A Certain Magical Tournament
by Terriefic
Summary: Events in Earthland are still unfolding, but 'a certain' group of characters are suddenly thrown into the mix! Best for curious minds who thirst on scenarios that are otherwise impossible. This story begins seven years after the disappearance of Tenrou Island.
1. Prologue (old)

A/N: Read the revised version instead. It's the latest chapter. This chapter will be deleted soon.

* * *

**Prologue**

Kamijou Touma lay afloat in the middle of the ocean, where he quietly drifted along the water. The spiky-haired boy rammed into a nearby rock, but he didn't cry out in pain. Kamijou clenched his teeth over the absurdity of what just happened to him. He struck the salty mass with his right hand. "Everyone…" said the boy with muffled words. He wept at the reminder that he was unable to save those wizards from Tenrou Island.

Just an hour ago, Kamijou had made his first acquaintances inside this unknown world. They called themselves 'Fairy Tail wizards'. Kamijou's hand began to bleed as he grinded it against the rough surface of the rock. "Damn it, damn it!" he cursed. The black-haired boy began to lose consciousness, causing him to fall forwards. His head smashed onto the diamond-hard rock, and he slid down into the ocean.

…

A hand reached into the water and grabbed hold of Kamijou's wrist, hurling him out of the water. A man with his hair tied into a bun instructed the soaked boy to climb on-board his small boat. Kamijou did as he was asked. Another man wrapped a towel around the boy's shivering body. After Kamijou stopped shaking, the men began to speak. The man with the bun introduced himself to Kamijou as Lahar. The other man, who bore a depressing face, was called Doranbolt.

"I asked my men to retreat, but Doranbolt here insisted that we investigate the area," explained Lahar. He glanced at the other man and smiled briefly.  
"Though, judging from your clothing, you don't seem to belong around here," said Doranbolt.  
"I don't know, myself," replied Kamijou. He bore a face even more depressed than Doranbolt's.

The two councilmen looked at each other in confusion. Lahar narrowed his eyes at Kamijou.

"What do you mean by that?" he interrogated.  
"I just told you—I don't know!" exclaimed Kamijou. "Frankly, I have no idea what's going on. Even from all I've experienced, dragons shouldn't exist!"

Doranbolt teleported towards Kamijou and lifted him up by his collar. The wizard revealed an extremely agitated face, which frightened Kamijou.

"You were on the island, weren't you? And you tell me you have no clue?!" he yelled at Kamijou. "Don't mess with me!"

Doranbolt clenched his fist tightly. "Wait, Doranbolt!" said Lahar, but it was too late. A punch was thrown directly onto Kamijou's face, knocking him backwards. The boy fell and landed on his back, making a thump on the wooden boat. The teleporter smiled, yet he expressed no actual satisfaction. Lahar scolded the wizard for his rash course of action, and walked past him to the boy. Kneeling down, he proceeded to ask if Kamijou was alright. He offered his hand to help the boy up. Usually, Kamijou would thank him and then accept his offer of kindness, but this time he only sat down with a shocked expression on his face. To the councilmen, the boy had yet to recover from the traumatic blow to his face. To Kamijou, however, the person standing before him was not Lahar, nor Doranbolt.

A ghost-like child floated before Kamijou's eyes. She had long, wavy blonde hair that reached the bottom of her pink, frilly dress. The dress was tied with a red ribbon at the collar, and displayed three waist-length decorative banners on the front; however, her most distinguishable features were definitely the two feathery wings that protruded from both sides of her head. She did not smile at Kamijou, and instead looked down upon him as if he were some sort of threat.

"Fairy Sphere," said the child. Her voice was cold and emotionless, but seemed to demand a response.  
Kamijou tilted his head to the side, "Huh?"

Lahar looked relieved at the responsive Kamijou, and prodded out his hand once more. Of course, Kamijou could not see his kind gestures behind the floating child's back. The girl frowned and opened her mouth to speak again.

"A legendary fairy magic," added the child with her cold voice. "It converts all the bonds and faiths of Fairy Tail into a magical barrier that even protects against time."  
"…" Kamijou remained silent.  
"If it's impossible to escape the protection of Fairy Sphere," said the child, "then… why are you here right now?"

Kamijou did not answer. His eyes moved into a corner as he stared at his right hand. _So this thing still works in this world_, the boy thought. The ghost-like child mouthed the words in Kamijou's mind, "Imagine Breaker." Kamijou gasped.

The floating girl faded away and reappeared several metres behind the boat. She spread her arms beside her like a child pretending to be an aeroplane. Suddenly, the ocean waves became significantly more violent as they knocked the small boat around fiercely. The boat rocked from side to side, almost capsizing. The water behind the child began to glow brightly with an orange colour. A gigantic source of light must have been under the water, and it was rising towards the surface. Kamijou recalled the name 'Fairy Sphere'.

A colossal sphere of light rose up from the water, revealing an intact Tenrou Island enclosed within it. Both councilmen and Kamijou stared at the glowing orb in absolute awe. The girl appeared in front of Kamijou again, but the councilmen still didn't seem to notice her.

"I doubt that you can negate the unbreakable bonds of Fairy Tail," said the girl, "but the wizards inside won't be freed for seven more years."  
"…" Kamijou didn't know how to respond. "Are you asking me to break it?"

Apart from her cold stare, the girl gave no response. She did not believe that the boy could possibly negate the soul and pride of the guild. Kamijou held up his right hand and stared at it intensely. Imagine Breaker: the mysterious power that negated anything supernatural without exception. The boy finally stood up and made his way to the boat's rear side. At last, he looked determined.

Around 20 platforms of light formed in front of Kamijou, which stretched all the way to the glowing sphere. Kamijou looked back at the girl for approval, but she did not face his way. He leapt onto the first of 20 platforms. The following platforms after that were too far apart to step across to, so he had to make massive jumps between each platform until he reached the last one. By the time he reached the sphere, he was panting from exhaustion and fear of accidentally slipping off into the ocean.

Kamijou punched the sphere with his left hand, but failed to penetrate the barrier. Although it was only his left hand, he could tell that the barrier was strengthened by the bonds of the wizards he met earlier. It was definitely indestructible. Taking a step back, the boy prepared his right hand for impact. He thrust his right arm forward, and heard the sound of glass shattering as his Imagine Breaker pierced through Fairy Sphere's barrier. Losing his balance, Kamijou fell off the platform. He screamed as he descended towards Tenrou Island, until he landed head-first into the island's soil. Kamijou stopped moving, his breathing halted, his heart stopped beating, and his brain ceased of all functions.

The boy did not die. Fairy Sphere protected everyone that belonged to Fairy Tail from anything and everything, including time. In the end, Kamijou's Imagine Breaker was only capable of negating the magical barrier that was held up by the bonds of the guild, not the bonds themselves. By the time Kamijou landed on the island, the barrier had already reconstructed itself with the persevering feelings of the wizards trapped inside.

The girl concluded that something similar happened when the dragon attacked the island protected by her spell. The girl apologised to Kamijou for getting a fellow guild member trapped within her spell. This was a burden that she would have to bear as the first guild master of Fairy Tail.

Mavis Vermillion sighed, and then smiled. After all, Fairy Tail was unstoppable.

* * *

A/N: 'Introduction **–** Part 1' begins next chapter. Thank you for reading! This is my first fanfiction work, so reviews, advice and criticism will be appreciated.


	2. Introduction – Part 1

**Introduction – Part 1**

A masked man panted as he raced through the street. The man made a dash towards an alleyway, but not before his leg was struck from behind with electricity. Inside the narrow passage, he dragged his paralysed limb along the ground. A girl around 14 years of age casually followed the escaping man while repeatedly tossing an arcade coin in her right hand.

"Honestly," she said. "You dark guilds really irritate me."

A short spark of electricity shot out from the girl's bangs, which disappeared as quickly as it extended from her forehead. The crackling sound of the spark stunned the dark wizard for a second.

"Running around, doing stupid things and abandoning your comrades, geez."

The girl looked very bored. Catching the descending coin, she threw it towards the man. The moment the man heard the _clink!_ sound, he fell onto his knees and whimpered. He continued to whimper even after realising that she did nothing more than harmlessly taunt him with a coin. He grasped at the walls of the nearby building for support, but failed to hold onto anything without slipping off. Giving up, he desperately crawled along the ground as a last resort to escape from the terrifying middle schooler.

"There's just no way," he said. "A monster like you couldn't possibly be from Fairy Tail!"

The electromaster sighed. She beckoned at the coin, which flew back into her hands via electromagnetism. The sudden movements of the coin startled the man, causing him to hasten his crawling speed.

"I don't really know how I got into this guild in the first place, but…" said the girl. She placed the coin on her thumb, and aimed her arm towards the dark wizard's direction. With a flick of her finger, the coin left her hand and travelled along a specific trajectory, leaving behind an orange trail. Even a coin could cause devastating damage if it was shot at three times the speed of sound.

The girl, however, was not a murderer; she was merely fulfilling the request of her client. The coin crashed in front of the dark wizard before he could even react, where it skid across the ground. A one metre trail was blasted into the concrete. The man instantly stopped in his tracks. The Ace of Tokiwadai's signature move: the Railgun. The dark wizard's pursuer was, unfortunately for him, Misaka Mikoto.

"… Even so, I wouldn't have joined a pathetic guild like yours."

That was the second time that the man had witnessed the Railgun on that day. Although it didn't destroy an entire building this time, it was much more terrifying to face it up-close. Of course, he did not know what the attack was called, much less how it worked. Misaka Mikoto, the Ace of Tokiwadai, the Electric Princess, and even the Railgun were unheard of in Earthland. The strange world operated in a completely different time and place from the Academy City that Misaka originally came from. For example, the girl was taking on jobs to pay off her rent, but the Fairy Hills dormitory didn't leave much of an impression on her when compared to the ones at Tokiwadai. This was in spite of the rent costing 100 thousand Jewels per month.

The man gasped for air while foolishly trying to laugh at the same time. Misaka frowned. "We might be dark guild, and we might be pathetic," he said, "but there's no guild in the whole of Fiore that's more pathetic than Fairy Tail!"

Misaka ignored the man and simply continued her casual advance towards him. She held the man by the back of his shirt collar, and began dragging him outside the alleyway. The man was powerless to stop her. He figured that even if he were to go ahead and resist, he would just be electrocuted. It was as simple as that.

* * *

Fairy Tail, compared to other Magnolian guilds, was rather quiet. Each member carried on with their own business, and nothing exciting ever happened. Misaka slipped her fingers between the notes in her hands, counting up the number of Jewels she had earned over the past month. 82 thousand Jewels out of 100 thousand Jewels. There were two days left to collect a total of 100 thousand Jewels, so that she could pay off her monthly rent.

"That's impressive, Mikoto. Only two jobs and you've already earned that much," said Bisca, who was sitting next to her. "However! You're leaving the bulk of your jobs to the final two days—the only other job you've ever done was completed within the first week. Procrastination is a big no-no!"  
"Ahahaha…" said an embarrassed Misaka. "Well, job requests have been pretty scarce, after all!"

Bisca narrowed her eyes. As a guild, Fairy Tail was indeed the lowest amongst the low. It rarely received requests from clients due to its bad reputation. As a result, wizards stopped joining the guild. Bisca placed hear head between her hands, as if soothing a headache. Her facial expression was hidden behind her long hair, but Misaka could tell that she was in pain.

"B-but, didn't that hairy guy say that Tenrou Island might still exist? We should all be very excited right now-" said Misaka, trying to comfort the distressed Bisca.  
"I wouldn't count on that," said Alzack. "We've already received several rays of hope over the past seven years."  
"… But they've always been crushed," added Reedus.

The mood inside the guild suddenly dropped. Misaka could feel that the wizards were getting depressed. Romeo, who was around her age, glared at her with hostile eyes. Academy City's third most powerful esper almost imploded from guilt.

…

"Oi, OI, OIII!" shouted a voice outside the guild entrance. With a kick, the door was forced open. A group of Twilight Ogre wizards entered the guild building while smiling wickedly.

"Ah… whoopsie daisy," sneered one of them, "did we come into the wrong building?"  
"HAHAHAHAHA!" said another wizard. "Where's the guild?! We might have stumbled upon a friendship club!"

The group of Ogres started laughing.

"Teebo!" said Wakaba. "Didn't we negotiate for the payments to be due next month?!"  
Teebo, who seemed to be the leader, closed one eye. "Sorry, but our master won't have it."  
"It can't be helped if our master has already decided, HAHAHA!" said another wizard.

Twilight Ogre broke out into sadistic laughter once again. A few of them even spit on the floor. Romeo, who could no longer take the harassment, stood up from his seat. His chair made a grating noise as he pushed it back along the floor. Holding out his hand, a small flame formed above his palm.

"I'm not going to stand down to you guys anymore! If things keep up like this, our name will become worthless!" said Romeo.

Misaka frowned in her seat as sparks of electricity ignited around her entire body. She had never thought about the pride of the guild. For 28 days, the guild was only a meeting place that conveniently provided her with shelter, food, jobs, and a few people to talk to. She had been bearing the insignia of Fairy Tail ever since she arrived in Earthland. She did not realise how much the guild meant to the wizards around her. Every Fairy Tail member, except for her, was a veteran from over seven years ago. Although only Romeo showed hostility towards her earlier, she was sure that everyone else felt the same way. The Railgun reached into her pocket with one hand.

"Kid, your name became worthless a long time ago," said Teebo. With a swing of his metal club, Romeo's flame was blown away. The boy took a step backwards.

"Tch," said Romeo.  
"Stop it, Romeo!" begged Macao.

The amateur flame wizard tried to stand strong, but he was actually afraid. Teebo held the giant club above the boy. When the weapon came striking down onto the child, everyone from Fairy Tail panicked. The Twilight Ogre wizards smirked.

The club was sent flying into the air with a spear of lightning. "Wha-" started Teebo, but was interrupted by a kick to the face. The expressions of all the wizards inside the guild froze in shock.

Erza Scarlet, who wore the Lightning Empress Armour, pointed her weapon at where Teebo's weapon was originally. Natsu Dragneel, who wore a brutal smile on his face, held his feet up in the air at where Teebo's face was originally.

"We're back, FAIRY TAIL!" announced Natsu. The entire crew of (formerly) missing Fairy Tail members cheered behind him. Those who were left behind seven years ago started to tear up. Chaos ensued as the S-class candidates charged towards the Twilight Ogre wizards.

After being brutally beaten with little effort, Twilight Ogre fled for their lives. "W-we'll remember this!" they emptily threatened.

Romeo's face lit up as tears burst out of his eyes. For the first time in seven years, he smiled.

"Welcome back…!"

The entire guild cheered, laughed and cried. All the wizard came running towards each other, hugging and making up. This reunion was the greatest concentration of happiness that Misaka had ever experienced. She did not belong there. The esper remained sitting at her table while the other members celebrated behind her.

It was then, that a finger lightly tapped her on the shoulder. Turning her head around, Misaka's eyes widened in surprise.

It was Kamijou Touma.


	3. Introduction – Part 2

**Introduction – Part 2**

"Eh, isn't this a bit too old-fashioned?"  
"W-what are you talking about?!" snapped Erza. "There is no finer clothing than this!"

Kamijou apologised. Although he understood that clothing from modern Japan wouldn't exist in Fiore, he simply couldn't refrain from commenting. Of course, he was wrong; modern articles of clothing were scattered all around Fiore. They simply didn't know where to look.

Erza was the one who forced Kamijou get new clothes, but there couldn't have been a more inappropriate person to go with. She wore her regular Heart Kreuz Armour 90% of the time, which was definitely not normal even by Earthland standards. Alternatively, she would be wearing outfits suited only for very special occasions, such as weddings, or she would be cosplaying. Kamijou described the woman next to him as 'weird'. He had only been with her for a few days, but he knew that much already. Still, even though the redhead was strange, she was passionate and friendly. She was usually very violent and brash, but she deeply cared for her guildmates.

Kamijou sighed, and suggested that they check the next store.

* * *

Misaka was checking the guild request board, when a chair flew right past her. The girl winced and clenched both of her fists in annoyance. Although the girl was clearly annoyed, no one was close enough to the request board to notice. After all, they had no time for work when they were having so much fun. It wasn't like the guild was so full that a party had broken out; it was relatively empty. Kamijou left with Erza earlier on during the day when she threatened him with a sword. Natsu and a few others also left earlier to meet the guild's medical advisor or something. Even so, the guild was still extremely noisy. Misaka figured that the guild was like this everyday when their spirits were high.

Misaka had no time for fun. She was the only one standing before the request board because her rent was due on that day. The electromaster recalled what Bisca said to her earlier, and slapped herself on the face. The number of requests available were very limited, and so was their variety. None of them could possibly be completed before the day ended. The level 5 esper may have been a calculating genius, but these requests were too otherworldly to compute properly.

"Dad, we have to go!" shouted Romeo, catching everyone's attention.  
"No, we will not go again! As the fourth master, I will never approve of it!" said Macao.  
"You're not the master anymore, so it doesn't matter what you say!" retorted Romeo.

The arguing father-son duo stopped momentarily and turned their heads towards the returning members. Kamijou and Erza wondered what all the commotion was about when they walked in. Following shortly after them were Natsu and the others.

"Besides, we have Natsu-nii and Erza-nee back! The entire Tenrou group is back! It'll be different this time…!" said Romeo.

Indeed, since the Tenrou group consisted of only S-class mages, S-class candidates and the guild master, they were significantly more powerful and/or skilled than those who were left behind; however… that was seven years ago.

"But you know, the Tenrou team has a blank of seven years…" noted Warren.

That was also true. Everyone from Tenrou Island were seven years of experience behind everyone else in the world. Not only their experience, but their magical abilities and physical abilities were seven years behind. Their bodies were seven years too young. Kamijou was the sole exception, as Earthland itself was a stasis chamber of sorts to him. Fairy Sphere, in actuality, blocked out time, but if it slowed down time to the point that it practically froze in comparison to Earthland, then Earthland's time was super-slowed in comparison to Academy City. After all, even though Misaka appeared in Earthland seven years after Kamijou, she did not look 21 although Kamijou was supposed to be 23. They looked 14 and 16 as usual. Misaka did not spend seven years in Academy city with a missing Kamijou, either.

"Can anyone tell us what they're arguing about?" asked Natsu.  
"A magic competition, Natsu-nii!" said an excited Romeo. "All the guilds in Fiore gather to participate in a single, huge tournament… the Grand Magic Games!"  
"Oooh!" said Natsu. The Tenrou group began to take interest.  
"And," added Romeo, "the guild that wins the competition… will be crowned #1 guild in all of Fiore!"

The wizards from Tenrou Island cheered, but those who were left behind only smiled awkwardly. There was a reason why Fairy Tail was known as the lowest guild in all of Fiore. If the Grand Magic Games decided who came first, then surely they decided who came last. Fairy Tail wasn't weak or unskilled in any way—they were still formidable wizards without their core members; however, luck was not on their side. The year that 'High Speed' Jet did not participate, a racing contest was held. The year that 'The Gunner' Bisca did not participate, a shooting contest was held. The year that 'Dancer' Vijeeter did not participate, a dancing content was held.

The games would start in three months. Misaka was instantly attracted to the idea of free lodges for participating wizards. Lucy turned out to share the same opinion as her. In the end, the decision of whether to participate or not came down to master Makarov, who thought deep and hard about the matter.

"Ah, and the winning guild will receive a 30 million Jewel prize."

…

A Makarov with gleaming eyes revealed himself.

"THEN, IT'S DECIDED: FAIRY TAIL SHALL PARTICIPATE IN THE GRAND MAGIC GAMES!"

* * *

A/N: 'Sky Labyrinth – Part 1' begins next chapter. I'm not sure how well this work is doing in terms of popularity (since I'm new to the site and all), but the enthusiastic reviews lift up my spirits so much, even if there are only a few. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to say this, but I'm totally thinking "keep them coming!"

I tried to keep this chapter short, since nothing much was happening. I didn't want to bore you. I considered incorporating humour, but I'm no good with it. If I tried, it would only drag things on too long. The flaw with the story so far is that it relies too much on Mashima-sensei's content, but I promise that his will change in later chapters. I really want to get onto the Grand Magic Games!

A review by a guest on 8/1/13 asked if Touma and Misaka will be the only Academy City characters to appear in this work. Hehe, the answer is no! :D I have seven more Raildex characters planned to appear. This includes Accelerator and the magicians outside of Academy City. The next Raildex character to appear will be in 'Sky Labyrinth – Part 2', and she will be Kanzaki Kaori.

I did say I have seven more planned, but I could add more along the way. Due to the nature of this work, however, I can easily fit in more Raildex characters into minor events if you make a request.


	4. Sky Labyrinth – Part 1

**Sky Labyrinth – Part 1**

Kamijou had been part of Earthland for seven years, but he only had three months of experience. Misaka, who had been there for four months, had four months of experience. In the past three months, both espers have bonded quite deeply with certain Fairy Tail wizards. Since the two girls were similar in age, Misaka and Wendy quickly became friends. As a result, they were exploring the night of Crocus together. It was the night before the Grand Magic Games.

Crocus was the town where the Grand Magic Games were held. During this time, the streets of Fiore were completely packed with people. Whether they were competing wizards or audience, they were waiting to enter the Domus Flau, the stadium where the games were to be held. Even though the streets were so packed, barely anyone cheered for Fairy Tail. In fact, it was the opposite; they booed and laughed at the pathetic guild. Even so, Fairy Tail did not falter. It didn't matter what the people said to them, because they would have no choice but to acknowledge Fairy Tail when they come out on top.

As long as they returned to their lodges by midnight, Misaka and Wendy could do whatever they wanted. The Kingdom of Fiore, Mercurius, lay in the middle of the city.

"Waaah…!" admired Wendy. "Mikoto-san, look at that!"  
"Hmm? It's not half bad," said Misaka.  
"Not half bad? This the Kingdom of Fiore, you know," said Charle.

Misaka was honestly impressed. Not a single Tokiwadai building could compare with the palace built before them in terms of size, elegance and intricacy.

"I wonder what kind of person the King is," said Charle.  
"You think he might have a beard?" said Wendy.  
"He might look like a frog," fantasised Misaka. "Or maybe that's just what I imagine when I think of old men…"

The girls chattered away, but unbeknownst to them, a dangerous evil was lurking nearby.

"Hee, hee…" it said. "Hee, hee, hee!"

The evil creature was extremely small, and had a demon-like tail. It lay on top of a tall building near Mercurius. Without any signs, Wendy and Charle suddenly fell onto the ground.

"W-what?!" said Misaka. "Hey, are the both of you alright?"

The esper quickly knelt down beside the girls and rolled them over. They were breathing, but they were unconscious. Although Misaka could not see it, the creature looked slightly confused. Why didn't Misaka faint as well? Since it couldn't take any risks and reveal itself to the girl, it jumped away while quietly laughing to itself. The enemy had retreated, but Misaka quickly glanced around for danger before placing the cat in her arms and the girl on her back. They were heavier than she thought. Although she could drag a grown man across the ground, carrying someone around the same age as you was a different matter altogether.

* * *

Natsu, Lucy and Gray returned to the lodge later than they appointed, but it was still before midnight. Being scolded is a generally unpleasant experience, but for Erza to do it made it downright traumatising. If she hadn't stayed at the lodge the entire time, she would have probably been late too. In the Grand Magic Games, each guild nominated a team of five people to represent them during the events. Since they were the first ones to return to Magnolia after their three months of training, Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza and Wendy were chosen to participate.

"Wendy still hasn't returned yet," said Erza.  
"It's almost midnight, too…" said Lucy.  
"Carla and Mikoto is with her, so she can't be lost, right?" said Happy.

Lisanna and Elfman entered the lodging with a box of food in their hands. As the games were commencing the next day, the participants needed the energy to keep them going at 100%. Even though both Lisanna and Elfman was stronger than ever after their three months of training, they returned to the guild too late to be chosen.

A loud impact was heard throughout the entire city. The clock had struck midnight. In the middle of all the lodges, which were assembled in a circle, a giant projection of a short man with a pumpkin mask appeared.

"GOOD MORNNG, PARTICIPATING GUILDS~! WE WILL NOW BEGIN THE PRELIMINARY EVENTS."

This was the first time that the Grand Magic Games held a preliminary event, so the participating wizards were understandably confused; however, before they could think about the matter any longer, the entire lodge started shaking. In fact, every lodge in the area started shaking, before shooting up towards the sky, revealing that they were actually extremely tall buildings that were hiding underground.

"THE PRELIMINARY EVENT, SKY LABYRINTH, BEGINS NOW! ONLY THE FIRST EIGHT TEAMS TO ARRIVE AT THE DOMUS FLAU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE GRAND MAGIC GAMES. IF YOU FAIL TO MAKE IT INTO THE TOP EIGHT, THEN YOUR TEAM WILL BE DISQUALIFIED. IN OTHER WORDS, IF YOUR ENTIRE TEAM DOES NOT ARRIVE AT THE DOMUS FLAU, THEN YOU WILL ALSO BE DISQUALIFIED… SO MAKE SURE NOT TO LOSE YOUR LIVES IN THE SKY LABYRINTH~!"

The wizards instantly noticed a problem. All members of the team had to be present by the time they reached the Domus Flau, or they would not be counted as one of first eight teams to arrive there. Wendy was not there, so even if they went now and came in first place, it would have been for nothing.

Outside the tall building, an electromaster was carrying a girl and a cat while she ran towards the building. She was wondering what the commotion was about, and why the buildings transformed. By magnetising her body, she rushed up the absurdly tall building until she reached the top, where the team members were. Misaka slammed onto the ground, heavily panting and sweating.

"Wendy?!" said Erza, turning around.  
"Wendy… Wendy and Charle fainted," said Misaka, catching her breath.

The wizards were shocked. Misaka gently placed the two girls onto the ground.

"H-how did this happen?" asked a terrified Lucy. "Did someone do this to them?!"  
"I don't know," said Misaka, clenching her teeth at her uselessness. "Tch."

Hundreds of wooden planks flew towards the entrance of the lodge. They stacked alongside each other, creating a staircase that led to a gigantic structure in the air: the Sky Labyrinth. Lisanna picked up the unconscious girls and lifted them up onto a bed.

"Elf-niichan and I will take care of these two," she said. "This is a race against all the other guilds in Fiore. The rest of you need to hurry up and go!  
"Eh?" said Misaka, pointing to herself. "M-me?"

The four other wizards didn't know how powerful or reliable Misaka was, but they had no choice. Besides, she was still a member of Fairy Tail. Natsu and Gray grabbed onto the Railgun, as if to prevent her from escaping.

"That's right!" they said in unison.

The Fairy Tail team of four wizards and one esper dashed up the wooden stairs, towards the gigantic Sky Labyrinth floating in the air.

* * *

The interior of the Sky Labyrinth was basically a three-dimensional maze. While it looked intimidating from the outside, the inside was only complex and confusing. The team had been walking around for a few minutes, trying to get a clue on where to go. Everywhere they went, thin stretches of concrete extended from one place to another, like twisted paths. They were not very wide; one wrong step, and you could fall down to your doom.

"Since the Domus Flau is located in the Eastern Mountains, we should probably head east," suggested Erza.  
"That way," pointed Misaka.

The two female wizards looked at each other.

"But we haven't even consulted a compass yet," said Lucy. "My celestial spirit Pyxis can…"  
"I can tell," said the electromaster, walking in the direction that she pointed in.  
"She's right," said Erza, after checking her compass. "We should follow Mikoto."

The other wizards complied and began to follow the girl. Misaka stopped and closed her eyes to concentrate to confirm her findings. After a few seconds, she nodded to herself.

"This structure looks like it's designed to turn around on its axis," informed Misaka. "Although this is a race, we probably shouldn't run."

By emitting electromagnetic waves from her body, the electromaster could sense the space around her. Misaka didn't want to seem too pretentious in front of those wizards, so she did not explain how she was able to tell these things. Still, she wanted them to acknowledge her as their equal. She tossed an arcade coin to each member of the team.

"If you tip over, you can use that coin to hang onto the ground," explained Misaka nonchalantly. "I'll magnetise our surroundings if the labyrinth starts rotating. The coin's already magnetised."  
"Who do you think we are?" said Natsu, melting the coin into his mouth.  
"Don't underestimate us, Mikoto," said Gray, placing the coin into his pocket. "We can do that with our own powers."  
"That's right," said Erza, who also placed the coin into her pocket.  
"Hahahaha… totally!" said Lucy, tightly holding onto her coin.

Another team approached Fairy Tail from behind.

"To think that we would meet you here," said Teebo of Twilight Ogre. The Fairy Tail team looked behind them to find five Twilight Ogre wizards ready to attack.

"It's time to take our revenge!" announced Teebo. "Go, my m-"

A sudden rumbling of the ground interrupted Teebo, who instantly lost his footing. No, the entire Sky Labyrinth began to rumble. Like Misaka said, it was going to turn on its axis. All the Twilight Ogres tipped over, grabbing at the floor which was now in front of their faces. The electromaster simply magnetised her feet to the ground. She eventually stood up-side down, but since she was not wearing a skirt, there was no problem. Natsu melted the ground to form a mould for his hand, which he used as a grip. Gray froze his hand to the ground with ice. Erza stabbed her sharp blade into the ground and hung vertically from there. Lucy lost hold of Misaka's coin while trying to attach it to the magnetised ground, but through quick thinking, hung from her Fleuve d'Étoiles, which wrapped around a stretch of concrete.

Indeed, Misaka was fighting amongst talented wizards. If she wanted them to acknowledge her, she would have to acknowledge them first.


	5. Sky Labyrinth – Part 2

**Sky Labyrinth – Part 2**

"Oof!" grunted a hooded girl as she landed onto the ground. An orange tube receded into her hands, unravelling itself from a slab of concrete. Her hood covered up most of her face, but she was clearly looking around the area.

"Kagura-chan?" she said. "Risley-chan…? Arania? Beth!"

Nearby, Kanzaki Kaori stood alone. Because of her attributes as a Saint, she easily survived the rotation of the Sky Labyrinth without lifting a single finger. As a Saint, she deflected her misfortune onto those around her, even if they were her comrades. Although she did not fall down onto Crocus, she could not say the same for her teammates.

"Why did we agree to get involved in this mess?" she said to herself.

…

"Were you also separated from your team?" asked a voice behind Kanzaki.  
"…" Kanzaki did not respond.  
"Not going to say anything, huh?" said the voice. "Well, I'm only here for your map, so it doesn't really matter."  
"Shouldn't you be trying to reunite with you comrades?" asked Kanzaki.

The Saint turned around to face the mysterious voice. It was a short girl, who wore a hood that was shaped like a cat's head. Along with the hood, her long bangs and red face markings obscured most of her face. She smirked, revealing cat-like fangs.

"We wouldn't be Mermaid Heel if we couldn't finish the preliminary event on our own," said the girl. "We'll just meet up at the end."

The air between the two women tensed up. The opponents stared at each other with hostility. The combatant to strike first would gain the advantage, but the attack would have to be unpredictable to be effective. The hooded girl observed the tall woman before her. Apart from her long hair and asymmetrical clothing, her most distinctive trait was her two metre long nodachi that she kept beside her. Although a sword of that length would definitely give any swordsman an incredible reach, it still couldn't reach as far as her tubes. Once the woman gets tied up by her tubes, she would steal her map while she was immobilised.

Nanasen.

The thin piece of concrete below the girl was instantly sliced apart into several pieces. The concrete, along with the girl's footing, plummeted down the Sky Labyrinth.

"Wha-" said the hooded girl.

The girl screamed as she fell closer and closer to Crocus. Fortunately for her, another slab of concrete was directly beneath her. She sighed of relief and prepared her body for a cat-esque landing. As her feet was about to touch the concrete, she gasped. The platform below her was also instantly sliced into several pieces. Kanzaki looked at the girl from a place far above her… and smiled. The girl looked below herself and opened her mouth in shock.

It was Crocus. If she had landed then, she would have died instantly as her body splattered across the ground. The girl shut her eyes. Even though she shut them up so tightly, tears still managed to flow out of the gap between her eyelids.

Kanzaki turned around at the sound of rapid footsteps behind her. Ignoring her, a woman rushed past the magician at an incredible speed. Sliding through the air below her, the woman grabbed the hooded girl with both arms. By pushing against pressurised air formed by her kick, the woman made a gigantic backflip and propelled herself towards Kanzaki. She finally landed behind the Saint. Kanzaki could only describe what the woman had just done as 'incredible'.

"Are you alright, Milliana?" asked the woman.  
"Kagura-chan," said Milliana. "I'm sorry."

Kagura placed the girl onto the ground so that she could rest. She stood up and turned around to face Kanzaki. Her face was calm, yet furious.

Milliana, afraid that the Saint would distract Kagura by attacking her, retreated to a safer spot. Kanzaki, of course, was not someone who would play dirty like that. If she were truly such a horrible person, she would have ripped Milliana into shreds upon their first meeting.

Kagura drew her unsheathed nodachi from her waist. Although the two women were wielding the same kind of weapon, Kanzaki's nodachi was definitely the more intimidating one. The reason was 'size'; Kanzaki's weapon was over two metres long, while Kagura's was of a standard size.

"Well, it's not like the size of her weapon matters," said Milliana. "It's just intimidating. That's all there is to it."

Milliana widened her eyes at her realisation. That's right: the Saint never attacked her directly with her nodachi, yet she was able to crumble her footing twice. Never once did Kanzaki swing her weapon at the girl. What if the gigantic sword was nothing more than a distraction? In the age of magic, unless you were someone like Kagura, it would be silly to rely on weapons. The woman was secretly attacking with magic and used her long weapon to distract her enemy. Even though it looked like such a hassle to carry the nodachi around, it seemed to be an effective strategy.

"Kagura-chan!" said Milliana. "That humongous weapon is just a cover! She probably secretly attacks with magic…!"

The Mermaid Heel swordsman nodded. The next instant, she disappeared from Kanzaki's sight. Kagura was already behind the Saint, swinging her nodachi at her back; however, when her sword struck something, it wasn't Kanzaki's back. It was like there was some sort of invisible force protecting the woman from behind. Glistening under the moonlight, Kagura finally noticed what was obstructing her attack. Seven razor-thin wires were attached to the giant nodachi. They were so fine that they were practically invisible.

"I see," said Kagura. "So you're a fake."

Kagura momentarily withdrew her weapon, before clashing with the steel wires again. The sound of string being snapped was heard. Kanzaki gasped, widening her eyes in absolute shock. Breaking through her Nanasen technique, Kagura was advancing towards the defenceless Kanzaki at a speed faster than the eye.

With a piercing blow, Kagura punctured through Kanzaki's abdomen, dealing fatal damage to several of her internal organs. That would have happened, had Kanzaki not have been an incredibly skilled fighter on top of being a Saint. With the minimal amount of movement, the Saint deflected the path of Kagura's Archenemy with her Shichiten Shichitou.

"I can't believe you broke through my steel wires," she said, "but I'm no fake. Behind Nanasen lies my true power."

Kagura placed her unsheathed nodachi back onto her waist and returned to Milliana. Fighting against Kanzaki while restraining her full power would drag on for too long.

"We're running out of time," she said to Milliana. "At this rate, we won't make the top eight."  
"Mm," nodded Milliana.

With that, the two Mermaid Heel wizards disappeared.

* * *

"Congratulations on passing the preliminary event!"

A short man dressed as a pumpkin clapped his hands as he congratulated the Fairy Tail team. Since they walked the entire way through, it was not such a surprise that they came in last place. Having said that, it was only last place for those who succeeded in passing the preliminary event. They still came above over a hundred other teams. This situation could be compared to being the seventh most powerful level 5 in Academy City. You might have been the weakest level 5, but you were still more powerful than 2.3 million other espers. It was something to be proud of, but it was not something that everyone understood. For some people, it was difficult to see things from a proper perspective. 'Last place' never had a nice ring to it.

…

'The Grand Magic Games finally begins!"

Chapati Lola, Yajima and Jenny Realight sat at the judge's panel, announcing the beginning of the Grand Magic Games. The audience, filling up all the seats in the amazingly huge stadium, cheered.

"The contestants are arriving!" announced Chapati. "First up, ranking eighth, can this team regain their former glory in the games?! Let's welcome Fairy Tail!"

The crowd, who was so enthusiastic just a second ago, suddenly fell silent. Even as the eighth most successful guild in all of Fiore, Fairy Tail came in an unfortunate last place. As expected, most of the crowd booed the team like they did on the streets. Even so, the team tried their hardest to not let it get to them, as their own guild was cheering for them. Former guild members like Yajima and friendly guilds like Blue Pegasus also cheered for the team. Wendy and Carla were probably also cheering for them, even if they were unconscious. It was highly likely that they had woken up by now, since Fairy Tail's medical advisor, Porlyusica, was treating the two girls. In fact, they should be up and ready to participate before the games ended.

"Hooray, hooray!" cheered a voice. "Gogo, Fairy Tail~!"

A voice was cheering for the team with the rest of the Fairy Tail members in the audience; however, they were shocked to see her. She had long, wavy blonde hair that reached the bottom of her pink, frilly dress. The dress was tied with a red ribbon at the collar, and displayed three waist-length decorative banners on the front; however, her most distinguishable features were definitely the two feathery wings that protruded from both sides of her head. It was Mavis Vermillion, the first master of Fairy Tail.

"M-master Mavis!" said a shocked Makarov.  
"I'm here to cheer for Fairy Tail. Don't worry, only those who bear the insignia of Fairy Tail can see me," explained Mavis. "Besides, it seems like that certain person will be participating in the games."  
"That certain person?" said Makarov.

The ghost-like girl stared intently at the contestant's entrance, as if waiting for that certain person to show up soon. While she waited, the next batch of contestants were being announced.

"Next, in seventh place," said Chapati, "the all-female guild, Mermaid Heel!"

Kagura Mikazuchi, Milliana, Arana Web, Beth Vanderwood and Risley Law stepped out of the contestant's entrance and into audience's view, who cheered with enthusiasm. Somehow, they made it back together, despite coming in second last place.

"In sixth place, Blue Pegasus! In fifth place, Lamia Scale!" continued Chapati.

The audience continued to cheer non-stop. From Blue Pegasus, Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki, Hibiki Lates, Ren Akatsuki, Eve Tearm and a man dressed in a rabbit costume made their way into the centre of the stadium. From Lamia Scale, walking out into the open was Jura Neekis, Lyon Bastia, Sherry Blendy and…

Misaka twitched her eyebrow. That last person there definitely seemed familiar to her. There was a man with shoulder-length red hair, who wore a black robe. Although his face looked young, he was towering above his teammates. A barcode was tattooed below his eye and there was a cigarette in his mouth. Beside that person was someone that Misaka definitely knew.

At Tokiwadai, Misaka was frequency serviced by maids-in-training from Ryouran Maid School. One of these maids-in-training was called Tsuchimikado Maika. This maid-girl had an elder step-brother who was known to be all over her. His trademark was his ever-present blue sunglasses. Less because they were step-siblings and more because it was unnatural for a Japanese person, her older step-brother did not share the same black hair as her. In fact, it was a bright blond colour. He was an esper, but unbeknownst to Misaka, he was also a magician. His name was Tsuchimikado Motoharu.

Since this was a different world, look-alikes were bound to happen. Even so, Misaka simply couldn't get past the resemblance. Besides, Kamijou was also sent to this world. What if Tsuchimikado was also sent to this strange world?

"This might come as a surprise, but this year, teams can come in both A and B!" announced Chapati. "In fourth place is Lamia Scale B!"

This was the guild that Kanzaki belonged to. Following behind her was a meek-looking girl called Itsuwa. The other Lamia Scale members were Chelia Blendy, Yuka Suzuki and Toby Horhorta.

"Likewise… ah, what a surprise!" said Chapati. "In third place is Fairy Tail B!"

Laxus Dreyar, Mirajane Strauss, Gajeel Redfox and Juvia Lockser walked out with pride. Tagging behind them, Kamijou was yelling at them to wait up. Misaka looked slightly surprised.

"You're participating as well?!" she said.

The esper ran towards Kamijou, but suddenly stopped. Indeed, she was shocked that he was participating in the B team, but Kamijou seemed even more shocked when he suddenly froze with a shocked expression. Although they came from the same world, they did not know the same people. Some people that the girl did not recognise, the boy did. Stiyl Magnus, Tsuchimikado Motoharu, Kanzaki Kaori and Itsuwa were all magicians that Kamijou knew from his world. They were all members of the Lamia Scale teams.

"Kamijou Touma…" muttered Kanzaki, but she said no more.

Itsuwa was happy to see Kamijou, but she looked like she was restraining herself from approaching him. Misaka figured that the blonde man was indeed Tsuchimikado Motoharu when Kamijou began to walk towards him, so she left them alone.

"It's him," said Mavis.  
"Oh, yes, he is quite special," said Makarov. "Since Jellal's staves were-"  
"Jellal?" said Mavis.  
"Uh, I mean Mysto- I mean, uh…" said a stuttering Makarov. "Nevermind me, First!"

…

"I'm sorry, Kami-yan," said Tsuchimikado. "We're all glad to see you, but it seems like we can't have a happy reunion yet."  
"…" Kamijou was speechless. "What do you mean by that?"

Chapati interrupted them with his next announcement.

"Finally, we're at second place. Please welcome the midnight raiders, Raven Tail!"

Raven Tail was the guild of Ivan Dreyar, the son of Makarov. Only recently approved by the magic council, Raven Tail had always been a dark guild. Fairy Tail was understandably angry and suspicious.

"I feel a malicious force from these people," said Mavis.

From the audience stood the master of the guild, Ivan. Next to him was a tall man with blue skin and a deformed face. On his shoulder was a small creature with a demon-like tail.

"I've waited far too long for this day to came, father," said Ivan.

Back in the centre of the stadium were the members of Raven Tail's team. There was a man with a golden mask, a red-haired woman with a disturbing expression, a short man with a huge chin, a skinny man with black lips and a frail old man with green hair, dressed in extravagant clothing that matched his hair colour.

"Fairy Tail," said the masked man. "That little girl was simply our method of greeting."  
"You're the one who hurt Wendy…!" said Natsu.

Chapati once again interrupted the contestants with his next announcement.

"There's only one team left, and we already know who they are!" announced Chapati. "The undefeatable, invincible, ultimate kings! Let us welcome… Sabertooth!"

The audience roared with absolute enthusiasm and exploded with sounds of clapping and cheering. Sabertooth revealed themselves, waving to the audience like they were celebrities. Although only four members, String Eucliffe, Rogue Cheney, Orga Nanagear and Rufus Lohr, were present, the audience took no note of it.

"Umm, the fifth member had something important to attend to, so he or she will not be participating during the first day," informed Chapati. Only Sabertooth could get away with something like this. "Well then, here are the upcoming events of the Grand Magic Games!"

A large stone tablet appeared in the middle of the contestants. Information regarding the schedule of the Grand Magic Games was inscribed onto it. The games consisted of five days, with the first three days having an event and battle portion. The first day's event was called 'Hidden', and there others were unknown for now. The fourth day was the same as the first three, but it had a tag battle portion instead of normal one-on-one battles. The fifth day, on the other hand, was a complete mystery. While you were allowed to nominate yourself to participate in the daily event, you had to be sponsored to fight in the battle portion. Winning a battle earned your team 10 points. Losing meant 0 points and a draw meant 5 points.

Depending on their rank in the preliminary games, each team received a number of points to start them off in the games. The team who came first, Sabertooth, received a whopping 10 points. Fairy Tail, who came last, received no bonus points at all.

"Hidden will now begin!" announced Chapati. "Each team, please send out one member."

Beth and Eve from Mermaid Heel and Blue Pegasus nominated themselves right away.

"We must stay ahead straight from the first game," said Lyon from Lamia Scale. "I'll go."  
"In that case, I'll go as well," said Gray, who was Lyon's rival.  
"If Gray-sama goes, then so will I!" said Juvia.

The man with a huge chin from Raven Tail, Nullpuding, stepped forward. He was staring at Gray with a wicked smile. The final member was from Sabertooth, Rufus Lohr, the poet who sung to the crimson moon. The moment he stepped out, the crowd cheered madly.

"Hold on a minute," said Stiyl. "I said that I would go, didn't I?"  
"I already told you," said Lyon, who was smiling smugly back at the magician. "We need to start ahead."  
"Tch."

The contestants who were not participating withdrew to the audience area. 'Hidden' was about to commence.

* * *

A/N: 'Hidden' begins next chapter. Thanks for reading! A lot happened this chapter, but it was somewhat tiring to write due to its length (I prefer to do the final versions of each chapter in a single sitting, though I did do the draft in two sittings). I still made it, though!


	6. Hidden

**Hidden**

Lyon chuckled as he joined the participants of 'Hidden' with Toby. Both Gray and Stiyl frowned for different reasons. The man dressed as a pumpkin, who was called Matou, hushed Stiyl away; everyone else was already walking back to the audience.

"I've been wondering," said Lyon. "Why did you impulsively join 'Hidden' the moment I declared myself to be participating?"  
"Isn't that obvious?" said Gray. "There's no way I'm gonna lose to you."

Lyon's small chuckles grew into an obnoxious laugh. Gray was immediately reminded of Reitei Lyon. He bore his fangs at Lyon's unfamiliar presence. _Don't tell me you changed back after seven years_, thought Gray. After suppressing his laughter, Lyon began to speak.

"Oh, that's right. We used to be rivals, didn't we?" said Lyon. "Unfortunately, you're now nothing more than prey in my eyes."  
"Tch…!" grunted Gray. "You've changed, Lyon."  
"I don't want to hear that from a man who was prevented from any kind of change for seven years," said Lyon. "There are many wizards in Lamia Scale who are much more capable than you. Unlike you, they are worthy of being my rival. Even that dumb red-head over there who refuses to mo-"

Suddenly cut off, Lyon turned his back towards Gray and walked off towards the stadium exit. _Have you forgotten about our schedule?_ thought Stiyl. _I didn't want to use this if I didn't have to. If someone finds out that I used the Opila rune, I might not be able to use it to clear the stadium later. If I don't do that, then Touma E. Fiore will not be taken down. You are such a fool. There was no need to antagonise yourself in front of your friend._

"It looks like I'll be participating instead," said Stiyl.  
"A-as you wish," replied Matou.

Many buildings and blocks began to magically appear around the contestants, forming a miniature city. All the participants were then transferred into random places throughout the entire city, but none of them were close to each other. They were effectively 'Hidden'. The aim of the event was to land as many hits on your opponents as possible. No matter how fatal your attacks were, all of them yielded the same amount of points: one. The inverse also applied; receiving a hit deducted your points by one. The rules seemed simple enough: hide and attack when they least expect it. That was why the event was called 'Hidden'. That was what everyone thought, until…

Clones of all the participants were generated and transferred into arena at random spots. They almost filled up the entire area. There was very little space to walk around, but none of the clones bumped into each other. The same could not be said for the authentic versions of the contestants. The clones were perfect copies, but they would not interact with anything. This meant that they would not attack or show emotions. All the contestants instantly figured that blending in with the clones was the best course of action to take. After all, attacking a clone meant that a point would be deducted.

"So the magic of this world can do things as amazing as this," said Misaka. "They're on a completely different level compared to my clones."

Gray, who was bumping into clones of himself and other wizards, was easily spotted by Nullpuding. The Raven Tail wizard's arm transformed into a gigantic spiked club, which he then used to lunge at Gray from behind. He whacked Gray from behind, dealing a painful blow on top of deducting one point from him. As a result, he also gained one point. Gray was transferred into another area of the arena after having his point deducted.

"Damn it… I've got to be more careful," said Gray. "I even let a Raven Tail mage hit me."

Gray froze as he felt a cold, disgusting breath blow past his ears. Nullpuding was already behind him again.

"Wha-" said Gray, but it was too late to do anything.

The ice mage was once again attacked by the giant spiked weapon. The points were altered once again, and Gray was transferred into another random area.

"Could he be… aiming for me?" said Gray.  
"Correct," answered Nullpuding, who was behind Gray already.

Having prepared for this outcome, Gray constructed a sword made of ice and swung it behind him, slashing across Nullpuding's abdomen. Fairy Tail finally made its first comeback.

It would back been a comeback, had Gray not slashed at a clone. Another point was instantly deduced from his score pool, and he was transferred to another area. Nullpuding was hiding behind the clone that Gray had struck. He was fighting unbelievably dirty. He was only targeting Fairy Tail.

"You bastard…!" said Gray.

* * *

"Say, doesn't that guy seem to be only targeting Gray?" asked Kamijou.  
"Why are you asking me?" replied Tsuchimikado.

Even behind his blue sunglasses, it was clear that he had no expression on his face.

"I told you that a happy reunion isn't happening, didn't I?" said Tsuchimikado.  
"Well, yeah…" said Kamijou. "Can't we even talk to each other?"  
"No," said Tsuchimikado. "You are our enemy right now, Kami-yan. It would be best if you didn't speak to nee-chin or the others, either."

Kamijou looked at Tsuchimikado blankly. Why would Tsuchimikado refer to him as an enemy?

"C-come on, we're only your opponents. Don't call me an enemy, geez!" said Kamijou.  
"Even if it's you, we are willing to abandon you if it meant saving many other people," said Tsuchimikado.

Kamijou became motionless. He face was filled with disbelief. Tsuchimikado simply sighed.

"Well, don't beat yourself up over it. Go and enjoy the tournament while you can."

Tsuchimikado walked away from Kamijou, blending into the crowd behind them. He waved his hands at Kamijou to bid him farewell, but he did not look back at the boy. After Tsuchimikado disappeared, Misaka emerged from the crowd and ran towards Kamijou with a flustered face.

"Where were you the entire time?!" asked Misaka. "We were looking for y-… eh?"

Upon seeing Kamijou's distressed expression, the electromaster halted both her speech and movements. She gave Kamijou a concerning look. Her eyesHe asked him, _what's wrong?_

"I…" said Kamijou.

Misaka felt a strange chill running up her body. She was there to hear the boy out. She was not Kamijou, so she was not someone capable of solving each and every problem thrown at her, even if she was the third strongest level 5 esper. Even so, she felt obligated to hear the boy, her saviour, out.

Kamijou made a disgusting facial expression as he wrapped his arms around his belly.

"… I need to take a shit."

…

The large crowd of people around the area instantly ran away in terror when violent currents of electricity erupted from Misaka's entire body. The sound of thunder could be heard from miles away. Kamijou only survived because he wielded the Imagine Breaker.

* * *

Kamijou ran around the exterior of the Domus Flau in search of a bathroom.

"Now that I think about it," he said, "there should be some bathrooms inside the stadium, shouldn't there?"

The boy began to run back to the Domus Flau as five arrows of light were shot towards him. Instinctively, Imagine Breaker swung his right hand behind him, destroying all five arrows in a single swing. Turning around, Kamijou faced a blue-haired man called Jellal Fernandes.

"Umm, my stomach is growling, so…" said Kamijou.  
"You shouldn't have blocked that attack," said Jellal. "I was only going to knock you out."

Jellal, moving at the speed of a meteor, raced past Kamijou and struck him on the spine.

"I'm sorry, but the master wouldn't have me in the team any other way," explained Jellal. "You had to go in reserve with a proper reason."  
"That's messed up…" said Kamijou as he violently coughed. "What if he finds out about this?!"  
"The dark magic is that much of a threat for me to take such a risk," said Jellal.

Kamijou stood up while grimacing. He was utterly disgusted at the wizard's way of handling things. Turning around, he charged towards Jellal at peak human speed. He pulled back his right hand to deliver a blow that would wake him up.

Before Kamijou could even finish blinking, Jellal had already rushed past him with Meteor.

"I've been wary of that hand since you destroyed the staves from Edolas with it," said Jellal. "The next blow will put you into comatose. I don't want to cause a member of Fairy Tail any more pain."

The wizard flew into the sky and created seven magic circles in front of him. They were aligned in a specific and intricate way. The circles glowed as they connected to each other and charged up magic power.

Grand Chariot.

Seven beams of light rained down on Kamijou. Even if he negated the beam of light that was directly heading for him, the other beams of light around him could still knock him out. Kamijou hoped for the best when he held his right hand towards the sky.

Kamijou's vision was instantly blocked. The sound of exploding rubble could be heard around him, but only a slight thump could be heard in front of him. An opening revealed itself in front of Kamijou's face. He was encased in Erza Scarlet's Adamantine Armour. The S-class mage was frowning. In an instant, she was already dressed back into her normal Heart Kreuz Armour.

"Jellal, what is the meaning of this?" asked Erza. "_JJEEELLLLAAAAALLLLLL!_"

The Heavenly Body Magic user opened his mouth to speak, but upon hearing the voices of potential bystanders, immediately ran away from Kamijou and Erza.

"W-wait, Je- I mean," said Erza, but Jellal was already gone.

His actions only made him more suspicious to Erza.

"Ah… thanks for saving me," said Kamijou.  
"Are you hurt?" asked Erza.  
"No, I'm fine. I should still be able to participate," said Kamijou.

Well, after Erza witnessed what she just did, there was no way Jellal was going to participate in the Grand Magic Games anyway.

* * *

Gray did a good job avoiding the attacks of the other guilds. That is, the guilds that were not called Raven Tail. The person called Nullpuding somehow ended up wherever Gray got transferred to, and continued to transfer him as he racked up points while Gray was drained of them. Gray, getting transferred so often, did not have many chances to hit other opponents. With only a few minutes left, Fairy Tail A had a score of -16 while Raven Tail had a score of +13.

Although they were single attacks, taking so many hits in total wore Gray down tremendously. His wobbly legs made it easy to distinguish him from the surrounding clones.

Stiyl was sitting beside a large building to conserve energy. He was tired, as he had spent 15 minutes placing runes all around the city. On top of that, his body was weak from casting an immensely powerful magic. In fact, it was his most powerful spell. The area around Stiyl was already burning with flames of 3,000 degrees Celsius. All the clones around him were burning to death.

He was using Innocentius.

After being penalised for attacking a fake, Innocentius simply regenerated. It was the ultimate, invincible magic. As long as the runes that Stiyl placed all over the city were intact, Innocentius could roam anywhere and burn down all his victims. Since this was just a contest, he made sure not to deal any fatal injuries to 'irregularly moving targets'. In other words, those who weren't fakes. Although he figured that Innocentius probably wouldn't have had a problem with them anyway, Stiyl made Innocentius avoid the ice and snow mages Gray and Eve. Since Nullpuding was around Gray most of the time, he was not targeted either. This meant that Innocentius only hunted for Beth and Juvia, since Toby was still in Stiyl's guild. Even with only two targets, Stiyl had a +12 score by that time.

The reason why he didn't hunt for Rufus was because he was too high up to be reached. Placing runes on the tall buildings was an inefficient usage of energy. Rufus, who had done nothing until now, finally activated his magic with only one minute left to go.

"With my memory of Exterior," announced Rufus, "I use Memory Make: A Night of Falling Stars."

The ancient magic, Memory Make, initiated as Rufus' body glowed with yellow light. The entire stadium darkened as the sky turned to night. From Rufus' glowing body, seven streams of light shot out and headed towards seven targets. Before the streams of light even reached their targets, another batch of streams was already being shot. This repeated until the event ended.

"I've memorised each and every contestant," said Rufus.

It did not take Rufus 29 minutes to pinpoint every one of his opponents. He simply left it to the last minute to build up to his climatic performance.

Not a single contestant could avoid his magic, which travelled at an insane speed. Following right behind his "A Night of Falling Stars" was a repetition of the same spell. Everyone who opposed Rufus screamed in agony for the entirety of the final minute.

By the time the event timer hit zero and 'Hidden' ended, Rufus had accumulated a score of +540.

* * *

A/N: 'Kamijou Touma versus Flare Corona' begins next chapter. I did not know that the King of Fiore was called Touma E. Fiore. It's pure coincidence that he shares the same name with Kamijou Touma.


	7. Kamijou Touma versus Flare Corona

**Kamijou Touma versus Flare Corona**

"Everyone, please check out your rankings!" said Chapati over his microphone. "Please remember that this is only the first event, so the rankings are heavily subject to change!"

With 20 points, Sabertooth was going strong. Raven Tail, not falling far behind, was at 16 points for coming second in all events so far. Although Fairy Tail B came third place in the Sky Labyrinth, coming second last in Hidden dropped them down one rank. Lamia Scale took up third and fifth place with team A in the lead. Coming fourth in Hidden, Blue Pegasus remained at sixth place. Mermaid Heel was recovering from being second last in the Sky Labyrinth, but was still seventh place. Fairy Tail, having gained no points from both events, remained in last place.

"Fairy Tail is so lame!" booed the crowd. "Always coming in last place, come on!"

Natsu lashed back at the crowd, warning them of Fairy Tail's eventual return.

"Looks like the loser's lost his cool," retorted someone.  
"Bark all you want—your era is long over!"

Natsu continued to shout at the crowd, earning his team no respect. Gray stepped past the dragon slayer without paying any attention to him. Although it was hidden behind his lowered head, his face made it obvious to his teammates that he was too ashamed of his loss to speak to anyone. He brushed past Lucy while exiting the stadium, and muttered only one word.

"Sorry."

Even though it was not his fault, Gray felt responsible for Fairy Tail still coming in last place with 0 points. Chapati announced that the battle portion of the day was coming up next.

"Kamijou Touma of team Fairy Tail A and Flare Corona of team Raven Tail, please step forward!" said Chapati.  
"Me…?" said Kamijou, pointing to himself. "The first match… me?!"  
"Raven Tail again…" commented Erza. "Against us, at that."  
"Such misfortune!"

Matou ordered Kamijou and Flare to the arena. The fight was about to begin in less than a minute. Kamijou hoped that it would be resolved before the time ran out at 30 minutes.

While he was not prepared for the battle at all, he decided that he must win. It was an important match for the guild, and the first match of the games. Besides, he couldn't let that Jellal participate instead of him.

"Alright, let's do this!" said Kamijou, arriving at the centre of the stadium.  
"My hair is red, hehe… hehehe…" murmured Flare Corona.

Like the girl said, her hair was red. Her hair was tied into two long braids, which she kept in front of her. A few loose bangs dangled in front of her twisted and painful-looking face. Whether they were natural or not, her eyes were also red. To top it off, she wore a revealing red dress. Her shoes were red. Not even her guild mark was spared from her redness. She was completely covered in red. Red liquid came flying out of Kamijou's left leg. He did not even realise it until his blood splattered all over the ground.

"Idiot!" shouted Misaka from the audience. "The match's already started! Don't let your guard down!"

Kamijou screamed as a giant red spike shot across his leg from beneath the ground. Several hundred strands of hair had dug themselves into the ground behind Flare. More and more ropes of hair began digging themselves underground, shooting up below Kamijou from unpredictable angles. The boy ran away from Flare, narrowly avoiding the spikes that could've instantly killed him. Flare left her job to her hair and stood in her spot, laughing at the escaping boy.

"A-amazing! I have never felt such power!" she exclaimed. "Did you really think you could run from my hair?!"

The red spikes protruding from the ground quickly retracted back into the ground before striking Kamijou from below again. After those missed, Flare ran towards Kamijou before shooting at him with more spikes.

"You can't run for my hair!" taunted Flare. "Wherever you go, my hair will still catch you!"

Instead of withdrawing into the ground, some spikes continued to grow out of the ground. They grew high into the air before pointing their ends at Kamijou, like a cobra before it struck its prey. The remaining spikes continued to shoot at Kamijou from below. Whether they dived at him from above or shot at him from below, Kamijou was cornered as far as Flare was concerned.

Kamijou's face looked uncertain. He was covered in sweat. The boy did not look very confident. He noticed that, despite what the girl said, the she did have a limit to her hair growth, and therefore, a limited range. Otherwise, she would not have ran towards Kamijou when he got too far away from her. Even so, he doubted that he could outrun her hair. He had barely dodged all the spikes shot at him so far. It was all he could think of, so he ran anyway.

"What do you think you're doing, stupid?!" taunted Flare. "Stuuupid, stuuupid!'  
"You'll see!" said Kamijou.

Red hair dashed at Kamijou from above. It was faster than Kamijou had expected. After all, the hair that attacked him from below had to dig through the ground before reaching him. Kamijou miscalculated his strategy.

"Shi-" said the boy.

Several ropes of hair ensnared Kamijou by the waist and lifted him into the air. Fortunately for the boy, Flare chose not to impale him with her hair all at once. After all, Raven Tail planned on humiliating Fairy Tail as much as possible. If she had killed him then, then she would have failed her job as a member of Raven Tail.

"Heh," said Kamijou. "You're underestimating me here…!"

He was the Imagine Breaker. With a single swing of his right hand, Flare's hair should be instantly destroyed. Even if they were not considered supernatural in this world, the Imagine Breaker did not originally reside in this world. A single touch and Flare's hair would no longer prove to be a threat. Kamijou slammed his hand onto his waist.

There was no hair. Kamijou crashed onto the ground. Flare had already unravelled her hair from the boy after hearing his earlier statement.

"I-idiot! As if I'd let you play your tricks on me…!" she said.

The girl's eyes distorted into fear and confusion. Swinging her upper body around, her hair began aiming for the boy's left leg again. That spot, at the very least, was safe to target.

"The same trick won't work twice!" said Kamijou.  
"True…" said Flare. She smirked, her eyes nearly widening into a perfect circle. "You're the one underestimating my hair…!"

Just as Kamijou avoided the next spike, it changed paths and curled itself around Kamijou's wounded leg.

"You should have seen this coming when I first used it to attack you from above!" said Flare. "My hair is soft in its natural state, isn't that much obvious?! You're so stupid, seriously! And you say a trick never works twice… HAHAHAHA, HAHAHAHAHA!"

With the rope of hair latched around his leg, Kamijou was hoisted into the air again. He dangled upside-down from the tip of the rope, like a lamp.

"Now… what shall I do to him?" said Flare. "Maybe I should thrash him around? Yes, I should do that!"  
"S-stop…!" said Kamijou.  
"Too late!"

Kamijou was instantly launched into a brick wall. He did not even have the time to touch her hair. An audible thump was heard when he crashed into the arena's barrier. He heard his own bones cracking from the violent impact.

The teenager writhed in pain as he clenched his upper body with his arms. The audience cheered, but Fairy Tail simply stood watching.

* * *

"Ah…" said Misaka. She stared at the battle with emotionless eyes. "Why won't he surrender?"  
"Because he's Fairy Tail," replied Erza. "This is only the beginning of our hardships."

Misaka grit her teeth and looked at Erza.

"You're being serious, right?" she asked. "How can you be okay with this? You can't even call this a tournament anymore!"  
"Don't undermine the spirit of Fairy Tail!" shouted back Erza. "He may have only been here for several months, but he understands."

Misaka gulped.

Natsu, Lucy and Gray eyed each other and smiled. This was the Erza that they knew. Misaka was young; she was inexperienced. Of course she wouldn't know.

"This isn't an injury that a normal human can survive and continue fighting with," said Misaka. There was pain in her voice. "I just don't want to be reminded of the time where he nearly died for me."  
"I don't know the exact history between the two of you, but…" said Erza.  
"I just don't approve of this."

Misaka left to take a break.

"Is that guy even strong?" asked Laxus. "We haven't seen him do anything except getting thrashed around."  
"He is the man that the master chose over Mystogan," answered Erza.

* * *

"AARRRGGGGHHHHH!" screamed Kamijou in agony.

Flare wrapped four thick ropes around Kamijou's limbs by using all of her hair. Every strand of her hair was connected to Kamijou at that moment. She made sure not to touch Kamijou's right wrist, narrowly missing the boundaries of the Imagine Breaker.

"You are too easy…" said Flare, "but I can't let you leave feeling so unsatisfied…"  
"…!" Kamijou failed to speak.  
"Oh, I know, I know! Shall I brand the insignia of Raven Tail on you?" said Flare. "Where should I put it…?"

Kamijou struggled to move under Flare's constraints. He was too injured to continue trying.

"Ah, I know," said Flare. "How about on top of your Fairy Tail insignia? Now, let's see…"

Several hundred strands of hair separated themselves from Kamijou. The end of the rope was shaped like the Raven Tail insignia. It was glowing from heat and was most likely burning hot. The thin rope of hair twirled around Kamijou's body while Flare chuckled to herself. Flare chuckled and chuckled, until she realised that something was wrong.

"Huh?" she said. "Where is it? WHERE IS IT?!"

No matter how hard she looked, the Fairy Tail insignia was nowhere to be found on Kamijou's body. In her confusion, the magical power of her hair wavered. In turn, her grip on Kamijou loosened; it was enough for the Imagine Breaker. With one small movement of his hand…

The shattering of glass could be heard.

Kamijou was now dangling from only three limbs. Not only did he destroy the hair around his left wrist, but he also forcibly ripped it from Flare's scalp. Such was the power of the Imagine Breaker; he entirely destroyed each strand of hair. Not even their roots were spared.

Kamijou fell straight onto the ground. Flare's hair had lost all their energy. Her hair was still wrapped around his limbs, but they had no longer had any grip. . Flare touched her new bald-spot with her hand and felt a stinging coldness. She could not believe what had just happened to her.

"I knew it… I knew it, I knew it!" screamed Flare. "Imagine Breaker…!"

…

In the entire Domus Flau, how many people jumped at that statement?

"Wha-" said Kamijou.

Kamijou interrupted himself. He had no time to think about it. With only 3/4 of her hair left, Flare shot it all out towards Kamijou. As her hair raced towards the Imagine Breaker, it started to form a shape. Claws began to take form. Then, another set of claws. The shape of a body started to become defined. Ears, eyes and mouth… teeth.

A gigantic red wolf was pouncing at Kamijou from above. It was made completely of Flare's hair. Kamijou smirked. Just a moment ago, he confirmed that his power worked against Flare's magic. The girl had clearly lost her cool, as a frontal attack could never win against Kamijou. It could never win against Imagine Breaker. With a single punch, the wolf was smashed into pieces. Disconnected strands of hair flew out in all directions. Flare, in a single instant, lost all her remaining hair.

"…!" Flare was speechless. "Un…"

With no more defences for Flare, Kamijou had to deal the finishing blow. He charged towards a dumfounded Flare who did nothing but stand on the spot. She stared blankly at the floor, deprived of all emotions. Kamijou was only a few steps away from striking distance.

"Un…" muttered Flare again.

He was a gentleman, but Fairy Tail's victory was more important. Kamijou thrust his arm in front of him, and struck the motionless Flare square on the face. Flare's entire body began to fly backwards, but then suddenly broke short of it.

"Huh…?" said Kamijou.

His punch did not feel like it had any impact at all. Kamijou looked at his right hand in confusion. Flare's body was still bent backwards in a limbo position. From the back of her head, two thin ropes of hair had extended themselves and stabbed into the ground in front of the wizard. Flare had manually cushioned Kamijou's punch by falling backwards, and used her hair to break her fall. Before Kamijou could react, those two thin ropes of hair shot at him from below, cutting him across his torso in an 'X' shape. The boy stumbled back in surprise.

"Kuh…!" he said. "You still had some hair left?!"  
"Un…" Flare completely ignored him.

A few strands of hair began to burst out of Flare's scalp. It was not the same hair she had before. It was burning hair magic. They were glowing and very obviously burning hot. It was the same magic she used for burning Raven Tail insignias onto other people, except that it covered all of her hair.

"Un… UNFORGIVABLE! UNFORGIVABLE! UNFORGIVABLE! UNFORGIVABLE! UNFORGIVABLE! ABSOLUTELY UNFORGIVABLE!"

More and more strands of hair rapidly burst out of Flare's head. Her hair grew longer and complex than ever before, forming a burning cage around the two contestants.

"There will be no escape… Imagine Breaker," said Flare. "Kukukuku… KUAHAHAHAHAHA!"

With limited space, Kamijou did not have much ground to run to should Flare use her spikes; however, since she used a good amount to prevent him from escaping, she would have less left to attack him with. Flare began her barrage of spikes at Kamijou, who dodged them one after another. When he finally got chased to the edge of the cage, he ran along the circumference to continue avoiding the spikes.

Suddenly, a spike shot inwards from the cage, almost slicing open Kamijou's jugular vein. It missed Kamijou's neck by an inch, but its heat could be felt even from that distance. Kamijou fell to the side in shock, only to meet another spike coming in his direction. With a swing of his right hand, he destroyed the spike of hair, leaving a bald spot of Flare's head. He swung his entire right arm around, dispersing several other pillars of hair. The only hair left on Flare were the ones being used for the cage.

More steaming strands of hair burst out of Flare's head. The interval between her hair being destroyed and bursting out again was significantly shorter than before. Not only was their regeneration becoming better, but also their strength and speed. Before Kamijou could even analyse her ability, he was impaled directly in the stomach by a thick rope of hair behind his back.

"Guh…!" grunted Kamijou, as blood poured out his mouth.

Flare pulled her hair out of Kamijou's body. There was a gaping hole in the middle of his body. The audience gasped. Even though they were cheering at the violence being performed earlier, they grew silent immediately at the sight of Kamijou's horrifying injury. Fairy Tail was speechless. Blood did not gush out of Kamijou's wound, as it had already been cauterised.

Kamijou fell onto the ground. Raising up a rope of hair, Flare whipped it at Kamijou. With a single lash, Kamijou's shirt was instantly sliced in half. A thick red streak of blood could be seen between the top and bottom halves of his torso. Red liquid flowed out of the seam, staining Kamijou's white clothing. With the next whip, Flare attacked the back of Kamijou's head, ripping off a seam of his hair and replacing it with a streak of blood.

"I'll ruin your hair, HAHAHAHA! I'll ruin your hair!" laughed Flare. "These wounds won't ever heal, you know?!"

With four ropes of burning crimson hair, she grabbed Kamijou by his limbs, sizzling them in the process. She began using her whip to strike him from the front and the side, leaving behind a layer of blood over his entire body.

Chapati swallowed in his seat.

"F-Flare of Raven Tail…" announced Chapati. He was the only noise in the stadium besides from Flare. "W-w-w…"

…

"Not yet, NOT YET!" laughed Flare, as she continued to whip Kamijou. "KUKUKUKUKUAHAHAHAHA!"

Kamijou looked at Flare with one lifeless eye, since his other one was destroyed. Using his blood-covered right arm, his instantly split away all the hair around him. He stumbled backwards with his wobbly legs, and nearly collided with the burning cage behind him; however, with a single swing of his Imagine Breaker, the cage was destroyed. That's right. With his right hand, it didn't matter what the wizard threw at him. He could destroy it all.

"I've come this far…" he said. "I can't possibly lose now."

The audience was trembling. Fairy Tail looked at Kamijou with admiration.

Although he shouldn't even be conscious right now, Kamijou continued to fight. The boy charged at Flare with the Imagine Breaker in his right hand. This time, he would make sure that Flare would be defeated with one blow.

Flare was completely taken aback. There was no way that boy could be moving after all the punishment she inflicted on him. Clapping her hands together, Flare created a gigantic drill with all of her hair, and charged it towards the approaching Kamijou.

With a single punch, a layer of the drill was instantly dispersed into all directions. The next layer was instantly split off in the following instant. The more Kamijou ran towards flare, the more her drill depleted in size. His Imagine Breaker was completely overpowering the spiral motion of her drill.

"…!"

Kamijou felt an excruciating pain in his right hand. It was being shredded apart. He felt being pushed backwards. Flare's drill was also increasing in size. Her hair regenerated when Kamijou destroyed it, and it regenerated faster each time. It was stronger and faster every time it came back. Right now, Kamijou was destroying her hair at a rapid rate. By the time Kamijou was only a few metres away from Flare, the cancelling speed of the Imagine Breaker was being overwhelmed by Flare's regeneration speed.

"I've… I've never felt so powerful!" screamed Flare.

Pieces of hair continued to fly in all directions. The burning power of Flare's hair became increasingly intense. The turning of her drill became extraordinarily more rapid. It might have started to gain the advantage; the Imagine Breaker negated at a constant speed, but Flare's regeneration only got quicker. Kamijou pushed himself closer to Flare with all his willpower, who gradually slowed down his advance.

Kamijou's right hand began ripping from the force applied to it. He was only a metre away from Flare. He was that close to her, but Flare's drill had become much too strong for him to handle. Although it was not at the level of Dragon's Breath yet, it had clearly surpassed the likes of Innocentius in terms of regeneration. The drill became bigger and bigger until it almost enveloped Kamijou's entire body. As Kamijou's hand began to stop withstanding the powerful drill, so did his body. He already-tattered clothing were eviscerated, and his already-destroyed skin began to peel away from the immense force his entire body was put under. His own blood was blown off his body due to the extreme movement of air. He was fighting against his own injuries as much as he was fighting against the drill.

"S-stop it!" yelled Flare. "You'll never make it!"  
"I WILL make it!" yelled back Kamijou.

Flare gasped. Her magic weakened. With one last push, Kamijou broke through Flare's final barrier. He continued charging towards her with all the momentum he built up against the giant drill, striking her square in the face. He could feel the structure of her skull being crushed under his fist. Flare was propelled backwards into the air, and crashed into the ground several metres away on her back. The girl was unconscious.

Kamijou fell to the ground. His body was disfigured beyond recognition. It was a miracle that he was even alive. Matou announced the winner of the match, as Fairy Tail members rushed to Kamijou. There was no cheering from the audience, but there was a lot of commotion.

"Damn it, where's Wendy when you need her?!" said Natsu.  
"Quick, call the medical team!" said Erza."

Erza knelt down beside Kamijou.

"Don't worry…" said Kamijou.  
"…!" Erza could not believe that he was still conscious. "Don't speak."  
"This was my own choice, so don't feel responsible," said Kamijou. "Now I know that this is a guild that's worth going this far for."

Kamijou tilted his head to the side, towards Fairy Tail. Every single member was fuelled with sadness, anger and vengeance.

Erza smiled at Kamijou.

"That's right," she said. "Our guild's medical advisor is amazing. She even fixed my lost eye. You won't remember the wounds you've sustained here today. Go to rest."

Kamijou was lifted onto a gurney, and moved out of the arena. The audience made way for the mortally wounded boy as the medical staff pushed the gurney through the Domus Flau. The made their way out the exit of the stadium. Another person was making her way in the stadium at the same time. She was around 14 years old, had brown hair and was renowned as Railgun and Ace of Tokiwadai in her own world. Misaka froze as the medical staff rushed past her in the narrow passage with the blood-covered Kamijou between them. She was attacked with a fountain of different emotions in every part of her body.

On that day, the Grand Magic Games was momentarily interrupted. The reason was the destruction of a stadium exit. This effectively blocked it and rendered it useless for entering or leaving the Domus Flau. It had to be investigated in case anyone was caught inside the mountain of rubble. Eyewitnesses suspected that the cause of its destruction was a bolt of lightning from the sky.

* * *

A/N: 'Midst the First Day' begins next chapter. Writing this chapter was a strange experience because of Flare's recent Heel Face Turn.


	8. Midst the First Day

**Midst the First Day**

Inside the Domus Flau, a few facilities were stationed near the stadium so that injured participators could be tended to. Mavis Vermillion was floating near an unconscious Kamijou.

"Can you hear me, Porlyusica?"

"Yes."

Mavis lowered her gaze onto the boy. He was lying on top of several sheets of cloth that were folded and stacked together to improvise a bed. She shifted her focus to the boy's right hand.

"We have given him emergency treatment," Porlyusica said.

"I see."

"I don't think most of his injuries are life-threatening, but that hole in his abdomen troubles me."

The medical advisor of Fairy Tail spoke while mixing a solution in her bowl with a spatula. She could not afford to even face to person she was speaking to.

"That's a relief. I can trust you to keep him alive, can't I?"

"Who do you think you're talking to?"

Mavis smiled.

"Ugh…"

The sound of the boy groaning made the two wizards jump.

"Where… am I?"

"Are you finally awake?" Porlyusica asked.

Kamijou looked at the floating spirit next to him. He gasped. Holding his bandaged right hand to his eye, the boy was trembling with fear.

"My eye… shit! My eye!"

"Calm down! It will be fixed in no time," Porlyusica said. "Don't underestimate me, boy!"

Kamijou turned his head to face the unfamiliar woman.

"Just exactly what happened to me?"

"This is the world of magic. If you're not prepared to face it, then you should have never poked your head into it."

"The world of magic? The magic I've faced before has always been more restrained."

"That's right."

All three Fairy Tail members looked in the same direction. A man with blonde hair and sunglasses walked into the small building.

"Even from my experience, I doubt that a normal wizard would go this far to inflict pain onto a complete stranger," the man said. "That Flare was definitely abnormal. Being the first match, I hope she doesn't set herself as an example."

The man sighed.

"Well, it's not like it concerns you anymore, Kami-yan."

A loud sound erupted from inside the building, shocking the guards who were patrolling outside. Even the most incompetent of guards could discern what kind of noise had just went off.

"A gunshot?" one of them said.

Smoke rose up from the muzzle of the pistol that the man was holding. The pink-haired elderly woman fell flat onto the wooden floor. The man had not been merciful; a puddle of blood flowed out from the hole in the woman's forehead. Kamijou was speechless, not only at the loss of his only chance of survival, but also at who had ripped that chance away from him.

"This has nothing to do with us abandoning you, Kami-yan," the man said. "It's just that Fairy Tail also happens to be our enemy, so eliminating you would help our cause."

"Why…"

Kamijou tried his hardest to get off the bed and punch the man in the face, but his wounds were too painful to ignore. Even if he managed to get off, that man's martial prowess was too much for Kamijou to handle anyway.

"I started with the medical advisor, since they're always the ones most underestimated," the man continued. "It looks like you won't be recovering any time soon, Kami-yan. Well, you're going to die anyway."

The man frowned, and then turned around. He left the room with his back facing Kamijou the entire time. Even after he had disappeared from their sight, the building was in complete silence.

* * *

"The next match will be Fairy Tail A versus Lamia Scale A," Erza informed. "You should get ready in case you're chosen."

Misaka stood up. A strong gust of wind blew past the two Fairy Tail members. The violent wind plucked off the leaves that were attached to the trees, and pushed them onto the girls standing towards each other. Misaka was not angry, nor was she irritated. She was heartbroken, but she blamed no one.

"You're right," Misaka said. "Maybe I can use it to blow off some steam."

"That would be preferred over wrecking the stadium," Erza said with a gentle smile.

Although she was smiling, Erza's mental condition wasn't faring any better than Misaka's. She wanted to assure the girl that Kamijou was indeed fine, but she did not know whether to bring up the topic or not. In fact, she wasn't even sure if he was okay, or if Porlyusica would be able to fix him. She had shouted at Misaka for undermining the willpower of Fairy Tail during Kamijou's match, but she did not know at the time that it would come to this. As Misaka walked past the red-haired Titania, her smile loosened into a frown identical to Misaka's own.

Electromaster Misaka Mikoto returned to the Domus Flau through a different entrance from before. Fairy Tail was once again watching the games as part of the audience, having calmed down from Raven Tail's abusive antics after two battles, but still in low spirits. In the stadium's battle arena, the third battle of the day was happening. Yuuka Suzuki of Lamia Scale B was fighting against Orga Nanagear of Sabertooth. It was _that_ Sabertooth, the leading team in the Grand Magic Games and the strongest guild in all of Fiore. Many had expected Orga to obliterate the likes of Suzuki in mere seconds, but the two mages appeared to be fighting on par with each other.

Orga held out his hand towards Suzuki, where a black beam of lightning shot out, reaching the Lamia Scale wizard faster than the eye could see. The sound of his tremendous attack could be heard from miles away. Even so, Suzuki emerged from the smoke with no injuries at all. He lifted an eyebrow as he stood facing Orga from several metres away. A blue shield of energy was floating in front of Suzuki, which had most likely blocked the attack from Orga. The Sabertooth wizard stepped back, with immeasurable fury emanating from his eyes.

"Firing directly at me will never work," Suzuki said. "Is this all a Sabertooth wizard can do after being robbed of his magic?"

The crowd cheered. Lamia Scale was in no way unpopular. At the same time, many people cheered for Orga to unleash his 'true power'. Of course, no matter how much power Orga released, as long as it connected with the Wave shield that Suzuki created, it would be negated.

"How nostalgic," Misaka said. "So, even the strongest can be threatened when they are robbed of the power that made them strong."

It was time for Suzuki to go on the offense. Orga held out his arms to fire off another lightning cannon, but nothing emerged from his hands. Suzuki had no time to waste, as Orga's power was probably too immense to seal off for a long amount of time. Without delay, he shot several projectiles of Wave energy at Orga, crashing into the ground around him. Rubble and dust filled the air and obscured Orga's figure.

The next instant, Orga's fist had already dug into Suzuki's stomach. The Lamia Scale wizard gasped, and then spewed.

"Disgusting…" Orga said. "You didn't think such a petty trick would work on me, did you?"

A wizard of Suzuki's caliber could never seal off the magic power of Orga. All he could do was negate. Negating Orga's released power was different from sealing it from escaping the Sabertooth wizard's body. He could have defeated Suzuki at any time he wanted; his only concern was 'entertainment'. He _was_ a Sabertooth wizard, after all. If Suzuki negated his attack from one direction, then all he needed to do was attack him from all directions at once, or travel behind him and attack him from there. He was that versatile, and he was that quick, but he didn't need to do any of that. With his physical strength, all he needed to do was dash past Suzuki's shield while suffering little to no injury to himself. He had all these choices, but as a member of the strongest guild in Fuirem he also had the role and responsibility to 'entertain' the audience.

"What are you doing, Orga?" Sting shouted. "That was too quick, too boring! You can't let people think that Sabertooth's a boring guild, can ya?"

Orga looked up and nodded. To compensate for his failures, he pulled out a microphone and began singing. It appeared that his only weakness belonged to the mental department. The crowd cheered anyway, since he was a wizard from Sabertooth. Chapati announced the winner of the match. Misaka, who was so interested in the match before, had lost all interest at that moment. She grit her teeth. This outcome was not what she wanted at all. The poor girl just couldn't catch a break. With a horrible expression on her face, the girl turned to leave the stadium once again. She hoped that this was the last time. At that moment, Chapati announced the final match of the day.

"The next match, and final match of the day, is Misaka Mikoto of team Fairy Tail A versus Jura Neekis of team Lamia Scale A! Would those contestants please step forward?"

* * *

A/N: 'Misaka Mikoto versus Jura Neekis' begins next chapter. A short chapter, even though it was the first one for a month. I changed the speech tags to the more conventional way, as you might've noticed. The short lines (and therefore a lot of white space) at the beginning of the chapter just looks very unsettling. Anyone else feel the same way?


	9. Misaka Mikoto versus Jura Neekis

**Misaka Mikoto versus Jura Neekis**

"That's right," Misaka said. What was the point of worrying over that idiot? The electromaster stretched by swinging her arm around. She was smirking. "Alright, let's do this!"

The legendary Iron Rock Jura eyed Misaka as he made his way down into the arena. The Lamia Scale teams were situated on the opposite side of the stadium, so she didn't notice. The crowd was ecstatic; one of the Ten Wizard Saints, who had never participated in the games before, was finally going to showcase his skills to the public. The upcoming battle was going to be a one-in-a-lifetime experience for many in the audience.

There was only one thing that the audience did not understand: why his chosen opponent was a middle school girl. An esper and a wizard stood towards each other in the centre of the arena. The tall man lowered his gaze down upon Misaka, and smiled. It was a faint smile. Misaka did not understand the meaning behind the man's smile. Perhaps, he was pitying the girl for the poor choices that the event organisers had made, or perhaps, he was smiling at his certain victory.

"What seems to be the problem?" Jura asked. "You need not pay attention to the audience."

"I'll admit that it's slightly jarring," Misaka said, "but I don't care about any of that! Come at me with everything you've got, Baldy!"

The man's smile disappeared, just as Misaka wanted. She was here for Fairy Tail's victory; stressing over Kamijou did nothing. Therefore, she needed a worthy opponent. There was no one worthier to take on Misaka's frustration than the fifth strongest wizard of the continent, however, not even someone with such a prestigious title could defeat Misaka with half-hearted efforts.

Provocation, in its most common usage, was meant to instigate rage in your opponent. The man standing before Misaka was above becoming enraged over such a petty insult. Becoming a Wizard Saint meant more than possessing pure strength. Provoking your opponent to take you seriously with a petty insult would fail against many people, but the Wizard Saint understood Misaka's intentions immediately.

"What is your reason for fighting?" he asked.

"For the revival of my guild," Misaka said.

"You're wrong." Jura closed his eyes and sighed. "You are fighting for something shallower."

Misaka swiped her hand over her bangs, drawing out several bolts of electricity. She swung her arm towards the man in front of her, directing a spear of electricity to head in his direction. The spear flew at a remarkable speed, but Jura managed to swipe his index and middle fingers up in time to summon a pillar of rock in front of him to block the electricity.

"You may be right," Misaka said. Her arm was outstretched in front of her, but her head was facing down onto the ground. Her breathing was heavy, and she might've been sweating. She chuckled. Did she really fight, just to vent her frustration on others? Was her attack the personification of all the frustration she had accumulated over the past few days? Misaka lifted up her head and made visual contact with the pillar of rock for the first time. She gasped. "Eh?"

The stone pillar was unharmed, and stood without a single scratch or dent. The electromaster narrowed her eyes in response to the two terrifying qualities that Jura had already shown: incredible reaction and absolute defence. Misaka was an esper who could vaporise ceramic with ease, but she couldn't even graze Jura's hardened rock.

"A wizard of your calibre should be able to destroy this pillar with ease," Jura said. "I've barely hardened it. Perhaps, there is something you lack that prevents you from doing so."

"I don't remember joining this contest to be lectured by some old man!" Misaka stamped her feet, generating a loud electric boom. "Fight me seriously!"

"But, are you a worthy opponent?" Jura asked.

Misaka looked shocked. Then, she became angry. The more frustrated she was, the higher her output—that seemed to be the case. A large amount of electricity surrounded Misaka's body, and then concentrated in front of her to shoot a gigantic spear of electricity from her chest. It headed straight for the pillar standing in front of Jura, and crashed into it before anyone could mentally process it being shot. The pillar continued to stand without a single damaging blow dealt to it.

"Are you as resolved as you think?!" Jura yelled, swinging his arm across. Small rocks floated up from the ground and surrounded Misaka from all directions. The rocks flew inwards towards Misaka and encased her inside a coffin made from many small hardened rocks. With a clap of his hands, the rocks glowed yellow and exploded.

There was no body to be seen where the stone coffin had erupted. Instead, Misaka was standing right behind Jura. A trail of electricity stretched out from the point of explosion and into a curved path that led to a spot behind the Wizard Saint. At this distance, there was nothing Jura could do before Misaka struck him with electricity. Misaka began to move her arm, but was then, without any sign or warning, ejected into air by a stone fist emerging from the ground below her. Jura had not made any actions.

"I left a trap spell behind me for such an occasion," Jura explained. "Too predictable."

"Tch!" Misaka made a backflip onto the fist, and then dashed down the arm onto the ground while leaving a trail of electricity behind her. Was she as resolved as she thought? She was no longer worrying about Kamijou, and was fighting to win for the guild, but was she really doing that? If anything, wasn't it Jura who had cast this doubt onto her in the first place? Was he manipulating her to gain a psychological advantage during the battle? Misaka doubted it. In the end, she was not prepared to fight a Wizard Saint. The unworthy opponent had been herself. If anyone was to be the loser of the fight…

"Mikoto!" Erza yelled from the audience. "Don't forget this: you are from Fairy Tail! We've all put our trust in you to win this battle!"

"I know that," Misaka said under her breath. "I know that, but…!"

"Then, put your trust in us too," Erza said. "Put your trust in Porlyusica-san, who's going to cure Touma without failure."

Misaka bit her lips. She's been in Fairy Tail for four months already. Has she never understood what it meant to be a Fairy Tail mage until now? Did she fail to understand even after seeing Kamijou getting butchered while fighting for the guild? She had insulted Kamijou's efforts in defeating Raven Tail. Didn't she swear to protect his dream?

Small bolts of electricity connected Misaka's fingertips with the ground, extracting large amounts of iron sand as she pulled her arm up. The iron sand was scattered around the area near her. A spear of electricity shot towards the pillar behind Jura, who had turned to face Misaka, and shattered into a hundred pieces.

"Very good," Jura said with a smile. With a flick of his hand, another pillar rose up in front of him.

"This one should be fully hardened now," Misaka said to herself. "I doubt that I could destroy it with my electricity."

Another spear of lightning connected the stone pillar to Misaka, but as she thought, she could not break through all the way with a single attack. The fist of rock rushed towards Misaka like a bullet, but Misaka didn't seem to react to it. It headed towards Misaka's side at a tremendous speed, but it looked like she had no plans to stop it. About one metre away from Misaka, the fist changed paths and swivelled around the electromaster without losing any speed. No, it appeared to be _gaining_ speed. After only a few metres, the giant fist crumbled back into dust. All the poorly-hardened structures were now out of play, and Misaka was now worthy to face Iron Rock Jura's full power.

Iron sand shaped into a horizontal arc flow towards Jura. The razor-sharp blade of iron sand made a painful buzzing noise as it soared through the air. Through its intense vibrations, the iron sand was akin to an ultra-powered chainsaw that could cut through steel. With a single gesture, three or four more pillars of rock emerged from the ground in front of him. With the original pillar of rock, they formed a line wide enough to capture the entire length of the horizontal arc of iron sand.

"I'll catch it even if you move it around these pillars," Jura said.

There was no need, as the iron sand clashed with his pillars soon after, and dispersed back into fine particles. Not even an ultra-powered chainsaw could pierce Jura's absolute defence. Jura gave a short, triumphant hum as he smiled. This did not last long, as he leapt back right after, and summoned another pillar in front of him. He was no longer smiling, nor did he look so confident anymore. The horizontal blade of iron sand that was lodged into the stone pillars made a loud buzzing noise, and then tore straight through them, flying towards Jura. The top halves of the pillars toppled over onto the ground and crumbled into dust. The middle section of the blade was caught by the extra stone pillar in front of Jura, but the rest closed in around the wizard. Without so much as an action, five gigantic stone fists punched out of the ground and pushed the iron sand out of the way.

"I see. The pillars did not disperse your control over the iron sand, but it was actually the iron content inside the pillars pouring out," Jura said. "That must've been what happened with the fist as well. How will you fare against five, fully-powered ones, though?"

Long bolts of electricity dragged Misaka by the arm towards one of the five fists in the air like a rope. She swung around the fist, and then threw her arms forwards to pummel it into another fist's arm. The remaining three fists rushed towards her in different directions, but there was not enough to corner her. Misaka jumped out of the way in mid-air, before all three arms were sliced into little pieces by black blades the seemed to appear from within the arms. Misaka swung her entire body around in a dance while covered in bolts of electricity connected to two fists of rock, throwing them back towards Jura as she yelled.

With a gesture, Jura took control over one of the arms again and used it crash into the other arm and drive it off-course. Then, he regained control over the other arm and directed them back at Misaka again. Before either party could do anything else, they were split into many pieces and plummeted onto Misaka like a hundred shooting stars, however, a simple magnetic field around her body deflected all the small projectiles away.

_An attack from above,_ Misaka thought, _well, I can do the same!_ The electromaster held up for arm, and then swung it down. At the same instant, a gigantic lightning bolt rained down upon Jura.

"Come forth, Rock Mountain!" Jura yelled, slamming his palms together. A gigantic structure of rock, shaped into an armoured warrior, rose up from the ground and sheltered Jura from above. Misaka's lightning bolt struck the fingers of the massive structure, but didn't even manage to knock a single one off. "Too predictable. I could tell what you were doing before you even did it." The warrior was colossal, and even though its shape was merely an aesthetic and perhaps even detrimental to its design as a form of protection, it was still an absolute defence. Its eyes were glowing red, staring at Misaka with terrifying intimidation.

"That's just… insane," Misaka said, looking up to the gigantic statue standing before her. She felt her own legs stepping back out of fear. He own eyes were shaking and tearing up.

Misaka swallowed, and then reached into her pocket.

"I suppose I'll finish this," Jura said. He slammed his palms together, and his entire body began to glow gold. Rocks and sand began to rise around him, and the entire stadium began shaking. Iron Rock Jura slammed both of his hand on the ground, and initiated his most powerful spell. Hundreds of pillars erupted from the ground row-by-row, getting closing to Misaka with each subsequent eruption, as well as getting a wider row. It was like the pillars were spreading out from in front of Jura in a triangle. Each pillar took up much more area than a normal one, and reached heights far above the Domus Flau. Each eruption shook the stadium and fractured the mountains supporting it. It was the absolute defence, and the ultimate apocalypse. Should anyone stand on the ground where a pillar was to erupt, they would be launched hundreds of miles away into sky with all their bones broken and organs crushed. "These monoliths are multiple times stronger than my normal pillars. They are virtually indestructible."

"Is that so?" Misaka said. With her hand in her pocket, she seemed calm and unfazed by the ridiculous spell racing towards her. In less than a second, she would be killed by a pillar emerging from below her. The pillars had already reached the boundaries of the arena, and Jura had to stop expanding the spell or it would endanger the audience. There was nowhere to go except backwards. That was exactly where Misaka escaped to. Her back was pressed against the barricade of the arena, yet the pillars continued to race towards her. To the audience, there was nothing Misaka could do at this point. Boy, were they wrong.

Misaka withdrew her hand out of her pocket, and held several silver objects in her hands. She tossed them all into the air, revealing to everyone what they were. Small bolts of electricity sparked around the coins, and lined them up in front of Misaka horizontally. Electricity surrounded Misaka's entire body, running across her arm and ending at her fingers.

Tokiwadai's Railgun swiped her fingers across the row of coins levitating in front of her, shooting one Railgun after another at different angles. A grand total of 36 orange rays of light appeared at once, punching through each and every pillar in front of the girl.

"Really," Misaka said. "Did you think that you were the only one holding back a monstrous technique?"

The electromaster brushed back her hair with the back of her hand while the immense destruction occurred in front of her, and the overwhelming wind currents blew in her face. Jura lost all strength in his legs, and knelt down on his legs. He was speechless. Hundreds of pillars toppled over, prompting Misaka to release a gigantic field of electricity to prevent them from falling in her direction. Hundreds of pillars collapsed around her; she lacked the strength to protect herself and ensure a clear path between Jura and herself at the same time. The girl was panting; she had over-exerted herself by firing so many Railguns at once. Whereas Jura lost strength in his legs due to being lost in awe, Misaka held onto a pillar for support due to exhaustion. Right now, the battle was in Jura's favour.

Misaka struggled to catch her own breath, or even stay opening her eyes. There was no clear path to Jura. Misaka stared at the coin that she was holding in-between her thumb and index finger. She prepared to fire another Railgun to create the path to Jura. She grunted in pain as she charged for her attack, with electricity crackling around her entire body. With a final flick, the coin was launched towards Jura at multiple times the speed of sound, creating a blazing orange trail behind it as it smashed through each and every pillar in the electromaster's way.

The two contestants could finally see each other again. Jura was standing as he always does. Misaka was coughing on the ground. Misaka grabbed onto the tunnel walls, pillars, and made her way closer to Jura. Jura narrowed his eyes, but he didn't make any moves against Misaka. This continued for a long period of time, until Misaka was finally 5 to 10 metres away from Jura. Jura gestured for the pillar opposite the one Misaka was leaning on to crush her from the side.

A panel of iron sand was the only thing standing between the pillar and Misaka. Electricity was flying all over the place like a berserk creature. Misaka yelled as hard as she could, but it was obvious that should could only hold on for so long. Jura had won the battle.

No.

The electricity that was flying all over the place concentrated onto Misaka's body, arm, hand and fingers. She slammed the panel of iron sand onto the pillar with her fist. Jura was still holding his arms out to crush Misaka. His face was full of anguish, but the pillar still refused to budge. Instead, it began to glow. It glowed with heat at where Misaka punched it and was leaving her fist at.

"She couldn't be thinking of-"

The largest Railgun ever shot—the entire pillar glowed bright orange and flew towards the audience while smashing through many other pillars. The amount of destruction was phenomenal. Another tunnel was created with a single Railgun. The pillar slowed down right before it reached the arena's barricade, and stopped right there. Misaka could not believe that she was even conscious after performing such an incredible feat while under so much fatigue. There was only one thing left to do; she tilted her head towards Jura. There was not a single millisecond to waste.

* * *

A/N: 'Oración Vacía **–** Part 1' begins next chapter. It will be a side story. Thanks for getting up to here, though I'm not especially impressed with this chapter. It was the one I wanted to do the most, too.


	10. Prologue

**Prologue**

He didn't want to admit it, but if he had to be described in one word, Kamijou Touma would be a hero. That's why he couldn't forgive himself for only watching by while Tenrou Island was being destroyed. He couldn't do a single thing about it. No one on the island was especially important to him; names like "Index Librorum Prohibitorum" and "Misaka Mikoto" didn't exist in this world, but in the several hours that he had been with them, he knew that the Fairy Tail wizards were not people that could just be abandoned and left to die.

The boy drifted along the surface of the ocean current before ramming into a large rock. He barely reacted to the pain, and struck the salty mass with his right fist instead. His right hand grinded against the rough surface of the rock, blood oozing out of his hand like juice from a squeezed orange.

"Fucking useless piece of shit," he said. "Damn it!"

Kamijou's vision became fuzzy as he began to lose consciousness. His head fell forwards, smashing onto the rock. The rest of the boy's body dragged him down into the water while his forehead scraped against the rock, tearing away many layers of skin and flesh.

He was going to die, but he didn't really mind. He believed that he didn't deserve to live in this world if he couldn't even save those who welcomed him to it with such warmth and kindness.

A hand reached into the water and grabbed onto Kamijou's wrist.

"Help me out, Doranbolt!" a man's voice said.

Kamijou was lifted out of the water by two men, and he started to gasp for air. There was a small wooden boat in front of him, where two men stood on top of. A man with his hair tied into a bun, the one who was speaking earlier, instructed Kamijou to climb onto the boat. The boy did as he was instructed, shivering while doing so. The other man, Doranbolt, tossed a dry towel onto Kamijou's back, which he wrapped around himself.

The man with the bun introduced himself to Kamijou after he stopped shaking. He was from the Magic Council and was called Lahar.

"You're quite lucky," Lahar said. "If it weren't for Doranbolt insisting that we investigate the area, we would have left."

"He doesn't look like he's from Fairy Tail, though," Doranbolt said. "There's no mark on his body."

The man's voice was filled with spite. Kamijou somehow felt that he could relate to the distress that the man was expressing.

"You're not from around here, are you?"

"…" Kamijou didn't know what to say. "I don't really know myself."

The boy's expression sunk. The two councilmen gave each other confused looks and then narrowed their eyes back at Kamijou.

"What do you mean by that?" Lahar interrogated. "You were there, weren't you? It's best if you don't lie to us."

"I really don't know!" Kamijou said. "Frankly, I have no idea what's going on. I've seen all sorts of stuff, but a dragon simply shouldn't exist!"

Doranbolt grit his teeth. He disappeared from his spot and reappeared in front of Kamijou in an instant. It was a technique similar to the one used by 58 espers in Academy City, so Kamijou could recognise it as teleportation. Veins were bulging out of Doranbolt's forehead. He grabbed Kamijou by the collar and lifted him up into the air.

"You were on the island, weren't you? And you tell me you have no clue?!" he yelled at Kamijou. "Don't mess with me!"

The man clenched his fist and drew his arm back. If he were to punch now, his fist would land squarely onto Kamijou's face.

"Wait, Doranbolt!"

It was too late. The man threw his fist onto Kamijou's face, knocking the boy out of his grip. Water splashed onto the small boat as it swayed from Kamijou crashing onto it.

The teleporter smirked, and took another step towards Kamijou. Lahar placed his hand on Doranbolt's shoulder before he could do anything else and simply shook his head. The man said something to Doranbolt and then walked towards Kamijou.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Lahar smiled and reached his hand out to Kamijou. Normally, Kamijou would accept his kind offer and then thank the man. This time, however, he simply looked at Lahar with a shocked expression on his face.

In reality, Kamijou wasn't looking at Lahar, but the girl floating in front of him. If that girl did not exist, only then would he would be looking at Lahar.

"Did I… hit him a little too hard?" Doranbolt said.

A ghost-like, angel-like child was floating in front of Kamijou. The councilmen didn't seem to notice her, but Kamijou could clearly see her. Their eyes were locked onto each other.

She had long, wavy blonde hair that reached the bottom of her frilly dress. The dress was tied with a red ribbon at the collar, and displayed three waist-length decorative banners on the front; however, her most distinguishable features yet were the two feathery wings that protruded from both sides of her head.

The girl looked down at Kamijou with disdain unbefitting such an innocent-looking girl.

"Fairy Sphere," the girl said.

Her voice was cold and emotionless, but it seemed to demand a response.

Kamijou tilted his head to the side and said, "Huh?"

"Grab my hand, and I'll help you up," Lahar said.

Unlike Kamijou, he could not see the girl in front of him. The man prodded his hand out once more. Of course, Kamijou could not see his kind gestures behind the floating girl's back.

The girl frowned and opened her mouth to speak again.

"You were the only person on the island who did not contribute to the activation of Fairy Sphere," she said.

"What are you talking about?" Kamijou asked.

"Fairy Sphere is a legendary magic that converts the bonds of Fairy Tail into a barrier that even protects against time," Mavis explained.

Kamijou jumped.

"You mean they're alive?!" he asked.

The two councilmen looked just as surprised as Kamijou was when they heard what he said.

"By 'they', do you mean…?"

Mavis, who seemed so cold at first, smiled and said, "Yes."

Kamijou didn't know how to react. Before he could, however, Mavis spoke again.

"In that case, why are you here?" she asked. "How did you escape the protection of Fairy Sphere?"

Kamijou did not answer. He only moved his eyes into a corner so that he could glanced at his right hand. _So this thing still works_, he thought.

The girl wasn't speaking aloud, but she began to mouth two words in front of Kamijou. They were the two words that Kamijou had on his mind at that moment.

"Imagine Breaker."

Kamijou widened his eyes.

The ghost-like, angel-like child flew back until she was several metres behind the boat, and spread out her arms like a kid pretending to be an aeroplane. The waves became more violent, knocking the small boat around. The boat rocked from side to side, almost capsizing with each rock. The mass of water behind the girl began to glow a bright orange. A gigantic light source must've been under the water, rising to the surface at that very moment. Kamijou recalled the girl's words, "Fairy Sphere".

A colossal sphere of golden light rose up from the water, revealing an unharmed Tenrou Island inside of it. Kamijou and the councilmen stared at the glowing orb with awe.

"Does your right hand have the ability to destroy seven years' worth of Fairy Tail's bonds?" the girl asked.

"Are you asking me to free them?"

Apart from her usual cold stare, the girl gave no response. That boy could not possibly negate the soul and faith of the guild. Kamijou held up his right hand and stared at it.

Imagine Breaker: the mysterious power that negated the supernatural without exception.

The boy finally stood up and made his way to the rear of the small boat, walking past the dumfounded councilmen who made no effort to stop him. At last, the boy looked determined.

The ocean split apart in front of Kamijou, creating a path for him to Fairy Sphere. If the girl was to collapse the path as he made his way to the orb, he would die. He had no other choice, though. There was no other option he could've taken to save those Fairy Tail mages; he did not understand the world that he was living in. Besides, he felt that he could trust that girl.

The boat lowered onto the ocean floor, and Kamijou stepped out of it. Kamijou could not see the girl anymore with the walls of water obstructing his view. He ran towards the gigantic orb with his right hand clenched. A golden ramp of light stretched down from the sphere onto the ground.

After a few seconds, Kamijou finally made his way to the ramp. With a gigantic step, he leapt onto it and ran his way up. The path was steeper than he thought and was only a little wider than his body. If he made a single misstep, he would fall to his death.

The ramp was slanted all the way to the surface of the glowing orb; there wasn't a flat platform for him to rest on once he got up to the top. He had to punch the orb with all his might after making his way up, or he would just slide down the ramp again and fall off.

With only a few metres to the top, Kamijou yelled with all his might and dashed up the ramp. He swung his right hand forward and smashed it onto Fairy Sphere. The force of Kamijou's punch rippled throughout the surface of the sphere. Now that he was in contact with the spell, Kamijou could tell that the barrier really was strengthened by the bonds of the wizards he had met earlier.

The sound of glass shattering resounded through the entire area. Kamijou's momentum carried him off the peak of ramp, and he plummeted down towards Tenrou Island. The moment he landed on the island, all of his bodily functions ceased.

His lungs, his heart, his brain—everything stopped.

Fairy Sphere protected those inside even from time. It was powered by the bonds of those from Fairy Tail, and these bonds were the strongest. Even if the legendary magic was to shatter, their bonds were eternal. Imagine Breaker could only negate the supernatural. Fairy Sphere may have been magic, but the bonds of Fairy Tail were not. Even so, they could amount to so much. In that instant before Tenrou Island was struck with the dragon's breath, the bonds of Fairy Tail ensured that Fairy Sphere would remain standing, even if it had to be rebuilt, for seven years.

That was Fairy Tail.

Mavis Vermillion sighed of relief, and then smiled. The girl apologised to Kamijou for getting a fellow guild member trapped inside her spell. This was a burden that she would have to bear as the first guild master of Fairy Tail.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

I've decided to revise some of my earlier chapters instead of writing the side stories. I'm not just going to change stuff; I'll be adding new content as well to pad out the story as well, so don't think that you'll just be reading the same things through again this time! For this reason (and others mentioned below), I'm posting these as new chapters instead of editing my old ones.

If I remember correctly, the pace of my story was a bit too quick, so this will be good for that too. There's a lot more I'd like to do with Misaka, but not so much with Touma, which is why this chapter is mostly the same, with a few improvements and tweaks.

I was going to write about 4 chapters for the side stories, so I'm going to condense the revisions into 4 or 5 chapters as well. Well, not really condense, since I'm going to have longer chapters. I'm aiming for around 5k words per chapter instead of my current 1.5k to 4k. This chapter was the prologue, so it's only around 2k words in length.

Anyhow, thanks for reading!


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